AJB76
31-07-2013, 02:50 PM
Hi All,
I've been approached by some of our staff who, as part of their role, are required to remain on standby duty o/night for 14 nights a month (24/7 duty for 14 days). Their question is this - What rate is the company obliged to pay them for such duty? The Award has no clause regarding standby/on-call for employees in their category, but there is a clause in the same Award for another category that states that the employee shall be paid their ordinary hourly rate for each hour they are required to be on standby.
So, the question is, would this apply to a category of employees that undertake similar duty due to the 'spirit' of the Award, or can the company effectively force these folks to do standby/on-call duty for no additional pay? I've researched FWA decisions and my interpretations suggest that no employer can require an employee to hold standby/on-call for less than their ordinary Award hourly rate, and a discussion with a FWA call centre operator was 'grey' at best, but clear on the fact that the employee must be payed for standby/on-call duty.
If I am correct, and the Award rate for these employee's applies to their hours on standby, they are being grossly underpaid to the tune of circa $40,000 per year due to their 24/7 coverage for 14 days per month. If their contracts must pass the BOOT, then they may well be entitled to be back-payed for this. The company has had external IR consultants investigate this and I believe (upper management has kept this 'quiet') that they arrived at the conclusion that these employee's must be paid at their ordinary rate for each hour on standby for their current contract (and an enterprise agreement currently being negotiated) to pass the BOOT
Anyone out there had any experience with such a problem? My gut feeling is that the company is trying to underpay these employee's to save money by being dishonest in their negotiations by not disclosing their advice, and I believe that, from an ethical perspective, this is wrong.
Thanks.
I've been approached by some of our staff who, as part of their role, are required to remain on standby duty o/night for 14 nights a month (24/7 duty for 14 days). Their question is this - What rate is the company obliged to pay them for such duty? The Award has no clause regarding standby/on-call for employees in their category, but there is a clause in the same Award for another category that states that the employee shall be paid their ordinary hourly rate for each hour they are required to be on standby.
So, the question is, would this apply to a category of employees that undertake similar duty due to the 'spirit' of the Award, or can the company effectively force these folks to do standby/on-call duty for no additional pay? I've researched FWA decisions and my interpretations suggest that no employer can require an employee to hold standby/on-call for less than their ordinary Award hourly rate, and a discussion with a FWA call centre operator was 'grey' at best, but clear on the fact that the employee must be payed for standby/on-call duty.
If I am correct, and the Award rate for these employee's applies to their hours on standby, they are being grossly underpaid to the tune of circa $40,000 per year due to their 24/7 coverage for 14 days per month. If their contracts must pass the BOOT, then they may well be entitled to be back-payed for this. The company has had external IR consultants investigate this and I believe (upper management has kept this 'quiet') that they arrived at the conclusion that these employee's must be paid at their ordinary rate for each hour on standby for their current contract (and an enterprise agreement currently being negotiated) to pass the BOOT
Anyone out there had any experience with such a problem? My gut feeling is that the company is trying to underpay these employee's to save money by being dishonest in their negotiations by not disclosing their advice, and I believe that, from an ethical perspective, this is wrong.
Thanks.