Overtime changes for permanent employees under the Hair and Beauty Award

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has recently undertaken their 4 yearly review of the Hair and Beauty Award. As part of this review, they have announced a decision to vary overtime pay provisions under this award for full-time and part-time employees.

These changes will be in effect on or after the first full pay period starting from 31^st January 2022. We outline further below the implications of this decision on overtime rules.

What is overtime? 

Overtime is typically a term within most modern awards that provides for special provisions (typically prescribing a higher penalty rate) for when an employee works additional hours. It can include work done:

• beyond their ordinary hours of work
• outside the agreed number of hours
• outside the spread of ordinary hours.

The spread of hours is the times of the day ordinary hours can be worked (ie in the Hair and Beauty Award the spread of ordinary hours are 7am to 9pm on Monday to Friday; 7am to 6pm on Saturday and 10am to 5pm on Sunday)

What is changing in the Hair and Beauty Award?

Prior to this decision, there was a lack of clarity around the rates of pay under the Hair and Beauty Award for when certain overtime hours were performed. The award previously did not outline a rate of pay for when a full-time or part-time employee worked outside the spread of hours detailed in clause 28.2(a), or more than the maximum daily hours specified in clause 28.3 (generally 9 hours a day, or 10.5 hours a day in limited circumstances).

The decision has now made clear that full-time and part-time employees are entitled to be paid overtime rates for work that is performed outside the span of hours and for hours worked in excess of the maximum per day.

When will overtime apply under this award?

From the first full pay period from 31 January 2022, full-time and part-time employees under this award will get overtime for working:

Full-time employees 

• Over 38 hours per week
• Outside the spread of hours, or
• in excess of the maximum daily hours.

Part-time employees

• In excess of the agreed part-time hours of work (part-time employees must agree to a set pattern of work on commencement of employment, including number of hours, days of the week and start and finish times)
• Outside the spread of ordinary hours, or
• in excess of the maximum daily hours.

Other changes to the Hair and Beauty Award ,

Changes to overtime rules are not the only changes to the Hair and Beauty Award commencing on 31 January 2021. There are also changes to penalty rates for casual employees for weekend work also commencing on 31 January 2022.

Penalty rate increase for casual workers in the Hair and Beauty Award

It was announced early in October that the weekend penalty rates for casual employees under the Hair and Beauty Award will be set to increase. The Fair Work Commission has now confirmed that the increases will commence from 31 January 2022 and will occur over 5 installments. The last installment will be on 31 December 2023.

Currently casual employees receive the same amount as part-time and full-time employees when they are required to work on a weekend. To take into consideration the various entitlements casuals do not receive (e.g. paid leave or notice) the Commission took the view that the weekend rates should be raised by an additional 25% for casuals.

Saturday penalty rates

From 31 January 2022 casual employees will receive a 138% penalty rate for the ordinary hours worked on a Saturday (including casual loading).

The Saturday penalty rates will then be increased by the following schedule:

Sunday penalty rates

From 31 January 2022 casual employees who work either ordinary or overtime hours on a Sunday will receive a penalty rate of 205% of the ordinary rate (including casual loading).

The rates will then increase via the following increments: