VIC Employee Rights - Overtime and Breach of Contract?

[Raul]

What happen if someone is in a management position with a contract for 38 hours a week on a salary basis, where it clarifies that overtime, weekends and public holidays, etc., were considered on that salary. However your boss rosters you for more than 38 hours a week, sometimes more than 40, and on top of that you end up doing overtime every single day due work load, which is a breach of contract. Is this legal under contract law or employment law? What are my employee rights?

 

[Ivy]

Hi Raul,

It is difficult to say definitively whether your employer has breached an employment law.

Has your contract been created under an award, enterprise agreement or registered agreement? What does that agreement or award say about when overtime rates apply?

Additionally, what does your contract say about your expected work hours? Does it say that you will be regularly expected to do extra hours or that it will be intermittent? Were you put on a substantially higher salary to account for the fact that you will work on some public holidays, weekends and overtime?

Remember that you don't necessarily have to accept requests to work overtime. Have a read of this blog post: Unpaid Overtime – Your Employee Rights - Legal Blog - LawAnswers.com.au