Short Shifts on Public Holidays - Losing Money?

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  ppshy1 on 31/12/2014 - 02:11

  So you finished at 3am Xmas morning?
  You will be entitled to 3hours of public holiday rate less any meal breaks in that time.

  What is your contracted shift? And what shift did you work? I am a little confused about you missing out on 1/2 hr pay.

  If you are contracted for say 8hours but worked 3 hours. In this case you would get public holiday rates 250% for 3 hours and still get paid normal rates for 5 hours even though you did not work these hours.

  • 

    thetownfool on 31/12/2014 - 02:37

    Just to clarify:

    I was on call overnight (get paid about $10 an hour regardless of public holidays, this on call allowance is not affected by penalty rates etc unless you are called in). I did not get called in after midnight so this doesn't really make a difference.

    I worked from 0700 - 1000, which was my rostered shift. This is 3 hours (the minimum shift length we can be rostered), which is paid at 250%, so it's equivalent 7.5 hours of normal pay (3 x 2.5).

    As a full time employee, if I do not work (ie. not rostered) on a public holiday I am paid public holiday leave of 8 hours normal pay. Hence the losing of 0.5 hours despite actually working - I do not get paid those 8 hours of public holiday leave if I am rostered on!

    /rant - It's a bit crap really. I'm just peeved that I worked the entire weekend prior to christmas (including my son's birthday), christmas morning and the full boxing day and this is the kind of shite that you end up being rewarded with. Would much rather have spent the morning opening presents with my kids.

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  what on 31/12/2014 - 03:19

  +1

  I am confused. My understanding is that a full time/part time employee should have set hours and days. These hours and days should not be changed week to week. If you are included on a roster and your days and hours change regularly, you should then be considered a casual employee. I may be wrong though.

  Fairwork may help. http://www.fairwork.gov.au/

  • 

    thetownfool on 31/12/2014 - 04:10

    I work in a hospital as a full time employee.

    I am rostered a minimum of 80 hours per fortnight.
    In addition to this I work 'rostered overtime' which is, as it implies, rostered work hours beyond the base 80 hours. Generally around 100 hours a fortnight total.

    To confuse matters further I have unrostered overtime (ie. when I work late due to the 'dynamic nature of healthcare' ie when bad shit happens) and call backs (when out of the hospital and on call, you can be called in at any time).

    As for the roster not changing regularly - unfortunately it happens all the time (I get updated rosters around once a fortnight) but I'm definitely not a casual employee. To further confirm this my employment contract states I am full time.

    The outcome of al this, and I'll edit my original post to clarify things is that:

    As a full time employee I am entitled to be paid on public holidays when I do not work as a day of leave. This would seem to be the case for most workplaces in Australia.
    I work rostered overtime on weekends and public holidays (as hospitals don't shut) and thus was rostered on to christmas day for the minimum shift allowable - 3 hours.
    My pay for working 3 hours on christmas day was, despite penalty rates, less than if I had not worked at all.

    • 

      what on 31/12/2014 - 12:24

      +1

      I still cannot see how a full time or part time employee can be rostered on to different shifts. I do understand that anything above your agreed normal hours is considered overtime. Maybe it is just the industry you are in.

      This is where I have looked in the past for clarification between full time, part time and casual http://www.fairwork.gov.au/Employee-entitlements/Types-of-em…

      Good luck. I hope you can sort it out and that you are being paid correctly. If you feel that you have not been paid correctly, you can always seek assistance from the Fair Work Ombudsman.

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  derpdeder on 31/12/2014 - 06:21

  Have you got your payslip yet or is this your interpretation of what you'll be paid?

  • 

    thetownfool on 31/12/2014 - 16:04

    Have the payslip in front of me 25/12/2014 Overtime @ 2.5 3 units. I won't give the cash amounts but it's clearly less than 8 units of normal pay.

    • 

      Sweetnsour on 02/01/2015 - 08:49

      Like ppshy1 said for full timer, if usually rostered 8 hours on public holiday. But worked only 3 hours. Then you are entitled to be paid 5 hours normal pay as well (even though u worked 3 hours on that day)

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  coin saver on 31/12/2014 - 07:27

  The 250% includes your normal public holiday pay so you should receive 12.5hrs pay.You will find that your award doesn't say that you get both ie: they do not stack.

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  mskeggs on 31/12/2014 - 08:57

  +1

  So you mean if your employer rostered everyone for 3 hours on public holidays they would pay less than if they had given them the day off!
  Without looking at your award, there might be provisions for a day in lieu for public holiday work, but I agree it seems rough if other employees whose roster happened to skip the holiday get paid for it.
  That said, presumably, your roster rotates so it will be somebody else taking their turn next time, so it will all wash out in the long term.
  Since your union employs lawyers for this sort of thing, it may be worth giving them a bell. If it is how you say, they might well want to negotiate a change next time it is reviewed.

  • 

    thetownfool on 31/12/2014 - 16:02

    Yep, if they rostered us all on for 3 hour shifts they'd save 1/2 an hour of pay for each of us!

    The provision for a day in lieu for working on a public holiday is there, with a penalty rate of 150% instead. The hospital decides which option of payment (250% vs 150% + day in lieu), so I am going to ask for this to be done retroactively.

    It doesn't really wash out in the long term, it just means everyone loses not me. Thanks for the reply though, will be speaking to the union regarding this kind of thing, probably needs tidying up when they next negotiate any changes to the award.

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  fredz0r on 31/12/2014 - 09:31

  Just quit. I'm sure there is no one to replace you…..

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  Woodinski on 31/12/2014 - 16:05

  +1

  As a full time employee (at any company) you will get paid for public holidays (8 hours) on top of any hours you work on that day whether you work or not. If my wife works public holidays (works in the hospital as well) she gets paid 8 hours plus 1.75 times the number of hours she works. In your case if you get 2.5x hours your pay slip should show 15.5 hrs (8 public holiday + 7.5 working). It may show 12.5 hrs if the 2.5x includes the public holiday rate (8 public holiday + 4.5 working).

  • 

    thetownfool on 31/12/2014 - 16:51

    Thanks for the reply! I will clarify it with the hospital admin… when they come back from their no doubt properly paid holidays. Payslip definitely does not show any payment of the public holiday, just the 3 hours @ 2.5.

    • 

      coin saver on 02/01/2015 - 07:36

      +1

      Did they include your public holiday pay in your normal hours?