Our HR team is always fielding questions from our clients about what constitutes reasonable additional hours so this week, we thought we’d provide a bit more clarity for you.

Rosters are part of everyday life in most workplaces. They help you organise full-time, part-time and casual staff across shifts, hours and locations. Used well, a roster is a genuinely useful tool. It manages coverage, controls costs, meets your compliance obligations, and gives employees clarity about when they need to be on the floor. But rosters also raise a common question worth getting right: when does a bit of extra time become reasonable additional hours, and when does it tip into underpayment?

What Does "Ready for Work" Actually Mean?

Most workplaces expect employees to be "ready for work" the moment their shift starts. But that phrase means different things in different businesses. Does it include getting stock ready, collecting a work vehicle, checking equipment, or joining a quick team huddle before the doors open?

The same scenario comes up at the end of the day: Is the work finished once the “heavy lifting” is done? Employees might still need to tidy up, secure the premises, finish a customer call that came in just before their finish time, or count the till before they leave.

These things can feel like small, reasonable parts of the job, outside their rostered hours. But here's the reality: it's all still work.

Where Reasonable Additional Hours Gets Tricky

Any task that's solely for the employer's benefit counts as work, even if it happens just before or just after the rostered shift.

This is where "reasonable additional hours" gets confusing. In some roles, a bit of extra time is expected and completely lawful. But for many employees, particularly those covered by an award or enterprise agreement, every minute worked needs to be recorded and compensated for. The Fair Work Ombudsman's maximum weekly hours fact sheet sets out exactly what makes additional hours "reasonable". It's worth a read if you're unsure where your business sits.

Aldi's $55 Million Wake-Up Call

Aldi recently made headlines over exactly this issue. The supermarket giant now faces a proposed $55 million settlement for underpaying current and former retail and warehouse employees who were required to perform "pre-shift" and "after-shift" activities.

The union argued Aldi encouraged, directed, requested, or otherwise conveyed an expectation that employees perform tasks before or after their rostered shifts… and that Aldi knew this was happening while only paying staff for their rostered hours.

It's a costly lesson for Aldi, and a timely reminder for every employer to take a close look at what's actually being asked of employees, how rosters are recorded or adjusted, and whether all time worked is being properly accounted for.

Most employers don't set out to underpay their people. The risk usually creeps in through everyday assumptions about what counts as "being ready for work," "helping out," or "meeting client needs." Those small grey areas can turn expensive fast if you don't manage them carefully as our earlier piece on wage theft laws covers in more detail.

While none of you are likely to be hit with a $55m bill, it’s worth taking the time to ensure you won’t be hit with any type of underpayment issue now or in the future.

What About Employees on a Salary?

Many of our clients also engage salaried employees who will generally not work to a roster. For these employees there is usually a mutual understanding of days and times they are expected to work.

So how do we know if extra hours are reasonable and if there is an underpayment risk for employees on a salary?

In my time working in the world of HR, I have too often heard employers say, "They are on a salary, so the award does not apply to them…”. This statement could not be further from the truth!

Annualised Salary Obligations to Watch

Putting an employee on a salary does not automatically exempt an employee from being covered by the terms and conditions of an award or enterprise agreement. This means that, though they may not be a roster in place, time recording is still essential. Check out our Annualised Salaries Australia – what’s changed? article for more details.

It’s also worth noting that some awards contain specific annualised salary provisions. I recently reviewed this, and around 27 modern awards include specific rules about how annualised salaries must be treated and managed. So knowing what award or enterprise agreement covers your employees key.

What If Their Salary Already Covers Extra Hours?

You may be thinking, I pay my employee $95,000 per annum + super. Surely I can get them to work additional hours if I need them to, without worrying about all of this. The short answer is, yes of course you can. Especially if you have a suitable clause in their employment contract that states reasonable additional hours are expected and are adequately compensated for in their salary. You still must ensure that overall the employee is not being underpaid and apply the test as to whether the additional hours are reasonable.

For example, you may be paying $95k a year, and if the relevant award wage is $35 per hour, you can probably have them working 5 to 10 additional hours every single week, and it won’t trigger an underpayment issue. However, is it really reasonable for them to be working  45 to 50 hours every week?  If so, was this expectation explained at the time of hiring, and will this requirement be impacting on safety or a person’s well being or personal life?

Steps must also be taken to ensure any specific award rules are followed and reconciliations against actual hours worked are completed each pay cycle to confirm there are no shortfalls in pay.

Where employees are considered award free, there is usually no additional payment required for extra hours. However, employers must still be mindful of whether additional hours are reasonable. This includes, having regard to employee health and safety, personal employee circumstances and workplace needs (these considerations also apply to any award or enterprise agreement covered employee).

Practical Steps to Reduce Your Risk

The good news: there are simple, practical steps you can take to stay on top of this (our post on annualised salaries has more on the recordkeeping side of things too).

• Review job descriptions and flag any tasks that may be happening outside rostered hours, then adjust either the timing of the work or the roster itself.
• Check that an employee's duties and responsibilities can realistically be completed within their rostered hours.
• Confirm whether employees are covered by an award or enterprise agreement, and review the rules around additional hours and payment.
• Compare rostered hours with actual hours worked as part of your regular payroll checks.
• Give employees clear guidance on what to do if they believe they need to work outside their rostered hours.
• Put a simple time adjustment process in place so extra time gets recorded and approved.

None of this needs to be complicated. A short review of your rosters, your award (or enterprise agreement) coverage and your payroll checks now is a lot cheaper than a settlement later. If you're not sure where your business stands, that's exactly the kind of thing worth talking through before it becomes a problem.

Not sure if your rosters are exposing you to risk? Get in touch with the HR Staff n' Stuff team for a quick compliance check.

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