If you work part-time in Australia, one of the most common pay mistakes is assuming overtime only starts after 38 hours a week. For many part-time employees, that is wrong. Overtime can kick in much earlier — as soon as you work beyond your agreed ordinary hours, outside your agreed days, or past a daily limit in your award or agreement. Understanding exactly where that line sits can be worth hundreds of dollars a year, and it is one of the first things to check if your payslip never seems to match the extra hours you worked.
This guide explains how overtime works for part-time workers, the difference between additional hours and overtime, the three usual triggers, and how to work out what you should have been paid. To put a dollar figure on your own extra hours, try the overtime calculator.
The Key Idea: Your Agreed Hours, Not 38 Hours
Full-time employees generally work 38 ordinary hours a week under the National Employment Standards. Part-time employees work fewer hours, and those hours are supposed to be agreed in writing before they start — the number of hours, the days they are worked, and the start and finish times. That written pattern is the baseline for overtime.
Once you work beyond that pattern, the extra time may be overtime, even if your weekly total is still well below 38 hours. For example, a part-time employee contracted for 24 hours a week who works 30 hours has worked 6 hours beyond their agreement. Whether those 6 hours attract overtime rates depends on their award or enterprise agreement, but in many awards they do — or at least some of them do. The 38-hour figure is not the test for part-timers; their own agreement is.
This is also why keeping a copy of your agreed pattern matters. If it was never put in writing, or if it has drifted over time as rosters changed, it becomes much harder to prove which hours were ordinary and which were overtime. Ask your employer to confirm your agreed hours in writing, and keep rosters and payslips together.
Additional Hours vs Overtime: A Crucial Difference
Not every hour beyond your contracted total is automatically overtime. Many awards draw a distinction between additional hours and overtime, and the distinction turns on rostering and availability.
Additional hours are extra hours worked within your availability, at times you are available to work, and rostered in advance in the normal way. In some awards these are paid at your ordinary rate, and they may even accrue leave. Overtime, by contrast, is work outside your agreed hours, outside the spread of ordinary hours, on a rostered day off, or beyond a daily or weekly maximum — and it is paid at penalty rates and generally does not accrue leave.
The practical difference is significant. Ten additional hours at an ordinary rate of $30 an hour pay $300. Ten overtime hours at time-and-a-half pay $450. Over a year, misclassifying regular extra shifts as ordinary additional hours can cost a part-timer thousands. If you are regularly working extra shifts, check whether your award treats them as additional hours or overtime — the label your employer uses is not decisive; the award wording is.
The Three Overtime Triggers for Part-Timers
Most awards and agreements use one or more of three triggers. They are usually assessed hour by hour, in order, and an hour that is already paid as overtime under one trigger is not counted again under another.
Trigger 1: Outside your agreed days or times
If you are contracted to work Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9am to 3pm, and you are asked to work a Saturday, that Saturday work is outside your agreed pattern. In many awards it attracts overtime rates from the first hour, even though you may have worked only 20 hours that week. The same applies to starting earlier or finishing later than your agreed span on a given day, where the award says hours outside the span are overtime.
Trigger 2: Beyond a daily maximum
Many awards cap the number of ordinary hours that can be worked in a single day or shift — commonly 8 hours, or 7.6 hours, with some allowing up to 10 by agreement. Once you pass that cap, the rest of the shift is overtime. This trigger applies even if your weekly total is low. A part-timer who normally works 5-hour shifts but works one 11-hour shift may be owed 3 hours at overtime rates for that day.
Trigger 3: Beyond your agreed weekly hours
This is the trigger most part-timers think of first: hours beyond your agreed weekly total. If you are contracted for 20 hours and you work 26, the extra 6 hours may be overtime, depending on how your award treats additional hours. Some awards require the extra hours to be rostered, or worked within your availability, before they count as ordinary additional hours; unrostered or out-of-availability hours are overtime from the first extra hour.
| Situation | Ordinary or overtime? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Extra shift within your availability, rostered in advance | Often ordinary (additional hours) | Within agreed pattern and availability |
| Work on a day you are not contracted to work | Often overtime | Outside agreed days |
| Shift longer than the award daily maximum | Overtime beyond the cap | Daily maximum exceeded |
| Hours beyond agreed weekly total, unrostered | Often overtime | Beyond agreed hours, not rostered |
| Work before or after the award span of hours | Often overtime | Outside the spread of ordinary hours |
What Rates Apply?
Overtime rates come from your award or agreement, not from the Fair Work Act itself, which does not set a general overtime rate. The most common structure is time-and-a-half (150% of your ordinary hourly rate) for the first 2 or 3 hours of overtime in a day, then double time (200%) after that. Sunday overtime is commonly double time for all hours, and public holiday overtime can be higher again.
For example, a part-time retail worker on $28 an hour who works 4 overtime hours on a weekday might be paid 3 hours at $42 (150%) and 1 hour at $56 (200%), totalling $182 instead of $112 at the ordinary rate — a difference of $70 for one shift. Casual part-timers are a special case: some awards calculate overtime on the base rate excluding the 25% casual loading and then add the loading, while others apply the penalty to the loaded rate. Check your award’s casual overtime clause rather than assuming either method.
Note also that penalty rates and overtime are different things. A Saturday shift worked as part of your ordinary hours attracts a weekend penalty rate, but it is not overtime. An extra weekday shift beyond your agreed hours attracts overtime, but not a weekend penalty. You generally do not get both on the same hour — the higher rate usually applies, not both stacked together — although some agreements differ, so check the wording.
Worked Example: A 24-Hour Part-Timer
Consider Maya, a part-time hospitality worker contracted for 24 hours a week: three 8-hour shifts, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, at $30 an hour. In one week she also works a 6-hour Saturday shift and stays 2 hours late on Friday.
The Saturday shift is outside her agreed days, so in many awards all 6 hours are overtime — commonly at weekend overtime rates. The 2 extra Friday hours take that shift to 10 hours; if her award caps ordinary hours at 8 per day, those 2 hours are overtime at time-and-a-half ($45 an hour, $90 instead of $60). If instead her award treats the Friday extension as additional hours because it was within her availability, those 2 hours might be ordinary — which is exactly why the award wording matters and why two workers in different industries can be paid differently for the same extra hours.
Over a year, even one overtime shift a fortnight at time-and-a-half instead of the ordinary rate adds up. Six hours a fortnight at a $15-an-hour premium is $2,340 a year before tax. That is money worth checking for.
What Overtime Does Not Give You
Overtime hours generally do not accrue annual leave, personal leave or long service leave. Only ordinary hours accrue leave. This is another reason the additional-hours-versus-overtime distinction matters: hours classified as additional ordinary hours may accrue leave, while the same hours classified as overtime do not. If your leave balance looks lower than expected despite many extra shifts, misclassification could be part of the explanation.
Superannuation is a related trap. Employers must pay the 12% superannuation guarantee on ordinary time earnings, and overtime is generally excluded from ordinary time earnings — unless your award or contract says otherwise. So overtime boosts your take-home pay now but does not usually boost your super. If you are comparing a job with regular overtime against one with higher ordinary hours, factor in the super difference.
How to Check Your Own Pay
Start with three documents: your written agreed hours, your award or enterprise agreement, and your rosters and payslips for a recent pay period. For each shift, ask: was it within my agreed days and times? Was it within the daily maximum? Was it within my agreed weekly total and properly rostered? Any hour that fails one of those tests is a candidate for overtime.
Then compare what you were paid for those hours against the award overtime rate. If there is a gap, raise it with your employer in writing, citing the award clause. Many underpayments are genuine payroll errors rather than deliberate, and a clear, clause-referenced query is often fixed quickly. If it is not, the Fair Work Ombudsman provides free advice and can investigate. Keep copies of everything — rosters, messages asking you to work extra, and payslips — because overtime claims are much easier with records.
Finally, remember that you can generally refuse unreasonable overtime. If extra hours have become the norm, ask whether your contracted hours should be increased to reflect reality — lifting ordinary pay, leave accrual and super, not just overtime.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do part-time workers get overtime before 38 hours?
Yes, in many awards. Overtime for part-timers is usually triggered by working beyond their agreed hours, days or daily maximum, not by passing 38 hours. The 38-hour figure is the full-time ordinary week, not the part-time overtime threshold.
Are extra shifts always overtime for part-timers?
No. Extra hours worked within your availability and rostered in advance may be paid as ordinary additional hours under some awards. Unrostered hours, hours on non-contracted days, and hours beyond a daily cap are much more likely to be overtime.
What is the usual overtime rate in Australia?
Most commonly time-and-a-half for the first 2 to 3 hours, then double time, with Sunday overtime often at double time throughout. The exact rates and thresholds come from your award or agreement.
Does overtime accrue annual leave?
Generally no. Annual leave, personal leave and long service leave accrue on ordinary hours only. Overtime hours are excluded, which is why correct classification matters for your leave balance as well as your pay.
Do casual part-timers get overtime?
Yes, casual employees can be entitled to overtime once they pass the award threshold, on top of their 25% casual loading. How the loading interacts with the penalty rate varies by award, so check the casual overtime clause.
What should I do if I think I have been underpaid overtime?
Check your award clause, compare it with your rosters and payslips, and raise it with your employer in writing. If it is not resolved, contact the Fair Work Ombudsman for free advice.
Conclusion
For part-time workers, overtime is not about reaching 38 hours — it is about going beyond what you agreed to work, on the days and at the times you agreed to work it. Check your written pattern, your award’s daily and weekly triggers, and the additional-hours rules, and compare them with your actual rosters. A short check each pay period can catch underpayments early, when they are easiest to fix. To estimate what your extra hours should be worth, use the overtime calculator and take the result to your next conversation with your employer.