Modern awards decide your overtime rates — how to find and use yours
Australia has no single legal overtime percentage. Overtime and penalty rates live in your modern award or enterprise agreement. How coverage works, how to read overtime tables, and what you can still claim at the ordinary-rate floor.
Why modern awards decide overtime pay
In Australia the Fair Work Act and the NES set the floor (including the 38-hour maximum weekly hours standard). They do not fix a national overtime percentage. Overtime rates, penalty rates, ordinary-hours spreads and many classification minima live in your modern award or a registered enterprise agreement.
How to find the award that covers you
Coverage turns on industry and occupation. Each modern award has a coverage clause. A more specific industry award can displace a general one. Tools: Fair Work Commission Pay and Conditions, the award PDF on the FWC register, or Fair Work Ombudsman guidance.
Reading overtime and penalty tables
Once you have the award reference and version date, read the overtime clause: when overtime starts (beyond ordinary weekly hours, beyond daily ordinary hours, or outside the spread), and the % of minimum hourly rate for each band.
Illustration only (not a national rate)
Under MA000002, Monday–Saturday overtime for many full-time clerks is often described as 150% for the first two hours and 200% after that (higher for casuals). If your ordinary rate is $32/h and you work three overtime hours that fit that table: (2 × $32 × 1.5) + (1 × $32 × 2.0) = $96 + $64 = $160. Another award may pay different bands: never copy this figure across industries.
How overtime pay works under Australian awards · Weekend and public holiday penalties
Enterprise agreements and BOOT
A registered enterprise agreement can set different overtime rules, but employees must be better off overall than under the relevant award. Underpayments under an agreement are still recoverable: see enterprise agreement underpayment claims.
What you can claim without the award
Without an identified award, claim unpaid hours at your ordinary hourly rate (1:1), floored at the National Minimum Wage for the pay year. Flag that award overtime/penalty loadings are probably also due once coverage is confirmed. Minimum wage check: check the National Minimum Wage.
Frequently asked questions
Am I award-free if I am salaried?
Usually not. Coverage follows industry and classification, not pay method. See salaried employees and overtime.
Where do NES hours fit?
The NES 38-hour cap still applies. Extra hours must be reasonable. Payment rates for those hours still come from the award or agreement: overview in the complete unpaid overtime guide.
What if my employer refuses to name the award?
Use FWC tools, your contract, and payslip classification codes. Ask in writing. FWO can help identify coverage when you reclaim wages.
Related articles
- Minimum Wage Australia: How to Check You're Paid EnoughFrom 1 July 2026 the National Minimum Wage is $26.44 an hour. But most Australian employees are covered by an award, whose classification minimum is usually higher. Here is how to work out your real hourly rate and compare it to the floor that applies to you.
- Which Modern Award Covers You? How to Find OutIn Australia, your overtime rates, penalty rates and minimum pay come from the modern award that covers your job, determined by your employer's industry and your occupation. Here is how coverage works, and how to identify the instrument that applies to you.
- Modern Awards vs Enterprise Agreements: What's the Difference?A modern award is the industry baseline; an enterprise agreement is a negotiated instrument that applies in its place and must leave you better off overall. Which one covers you decides your overtime and penalty rates. Here is how the two differ.
- Award Minimum Wages: Why You May Be Owed MoreThe National Minimum Wage of $26.44 an hour is only the floor for award-free employees. Most workers are covered by an award, whose classification minimum is usually higher, and award rates rose 4.75% from 1 July 2026. Here is why your real floor may be more.
- How Overtime Pay Works Under Australian AwardsOvertime rates in Australia are set by your modern award, not the law. Here is how the triggers and the 150%/200% rates work, and why you must identify your award before any multiplier applies.
- Enterprise Agreement Underpayment: How to Check and ClaimA registered enterprise agreement is legally binding: its rates, overtime and penalty terms are enforceable, and paying below them is an underpayment. Here is how to check your pay against the agreement and reclaim what you're owed, with the deadlines and burden-of-proof rules.
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