This article provides guidelines on the Australian Aged Care Award package. For more information on this award, please refer to the Aged Care Award [MA000018].
What is the Aged Care Award?
The Aged Care Award, is a set of legal minimum employment standards and conditions that apply to employees working in the aged care industry in Australia.
The award sets out the minimum wage rates, working hours, overtime, annual leave, sick leave, and other entitlements for employees working in various roles within the aged care industry, such as personal care workers, cleaners, laundry hands, and food services employees including cooks.
The award is designed to ensure that employees in the aged care industry are treated fairly and receive reasonable pay and conditions for their work.
Who is entitled to the Aged Care Award?
Coverage
The Aged Care Award covers employers in the aged care industry and their employees who fit within the classifications of the award.
The aged care industry means providing accommodation and care services for aged persons in:
- hostels
- nursing homes
- aged care independent living units
- aged care services apartments
- garden settlements
- retirement villages
- any other residential accommodation facility.
Examples of employees covered by the Aged Care Award include:
- personal care workers
- cleaners
- laundry hands
- drivers
- food services employees including cooks
- receptionists and administrative staff
- grounds maintenance employees including gardeners and handymen
- activity coordinators (unqualified)
- interpreters.
Types of employment
An employee covered by this award must be one of the following:
- A full-time employee who is engaged to work an average of 38 ordinary hours per week over a period of no more than 4 weeks.
- A part-time employee who is engaged to work less than 38 ordinary hours per week and has predictable hours.
- A casual employee who is engaged to work may be no more than 38 ordinary hours per week; or if they work according to a roster, their ordinary hours may be averaged over the roster cycle to be no more than 38 hours per week.
The Award does not generally cover
The following are examples of employers and employees that are not covered by the Aged Care Award:
- any health professionals such as:nurses,physiotherapists,occupational therapists
- rehabilitation centres not specifically dealing with aged persons
- home care services provided to aged persons
How is the shiftwork arranged in the Aged Care Award ?
Hours of Work
Ordinary hours for a day worker: 6.00 am and 6.00 pm Monday to Friday.
Employment type |
Ordinary hours per week |
Maximum daily hours |
Full-time |
38 hours per week over a period of no more than 4 weeks | 8 hours on a day shift or 10 hours on a night shift |
Part-time |
less than 38 hours |
8 hours on a day shift or 10 hours on a night shift |
Casual | 38 hours max ordinary hours / week |
8 hours on a day shift or 10 hours on a night shift |
Breaks
Hours worked per shift |
Paid rest break |
Unpaid meal break |
Between 5 and 7.6 hours |
1 x 10-minute break |
1 x break between 30 and 60 minutes |
7.6 hours or more |
2 x 10-minute rest breaks, not to be taken:
|
1 x break between 30 and 60 minutes |
How are wages and allowances calculated in the Aged Care Award?
Saturday and Sunday Work
For overtime worked between |
Overtime rate for full- and part-time employees
(% of ordinary hourly rate) |
Overtime rate for casual employees (% of ordinary hourly rate) |
midnight on Friday and midnight on Saturday |
150% | 175% |
midnight on Saturday and midnight on Sunday | 175% |
200% |
Overtime rates
The table below outlines the penalty rates that employees are paid for all work done in addition to their rostered ordinary hours on different days:
Full-time and part-time employees (% of ordinary hourly rate) |
Casual employees % of the ordinary hourly rate (inclusive of casual loading) |
|
Monday to Friday(first 2 hours) |
150% | 187.5% |
Monday to Friday(after 2 hours) |
200% | 250% |
Saturday or Sunday | 200% |
250% |
Public Holidays | 250% |
312.5% |
Shift Work Penalty Rates
Shift |
Penalty rate |
Afternoon |
110% |
Afternoon |
112.5% |
Night starting between 4.00 pm and 4.00 am |
115% |
Night starting between 4.00 am and 6.00 am |
110% |
Allowance
The Aged Care Award offers the following allowances:
Allowances |
Rate |
Apprentice training fees & textbook costs reimbursement |
reimbursement of training fees for prescribed courses and the cost of prescribed textbooks |
Apprentice travel to block release training reimbursement |
reimbursement for the excess reasonable travel costs incurred in the course of travelling to and from the training |
Uniform allowance |
$1.23 per shift, up to a maximum of $6.24 per week |
Laundry allowance |
$0.32 per shift, up to a maximum of $1.49 per week |
Special clothing & safety equipment reimbursement |
reimbursement for the cost of purchasing required rubber gloves, special clothing or safety equipment |
* Leading hand allowance – in charge of 2-5 employees |
$0.72 per hour |
* Leading hand allowance – in charge of 6-10 employees |
$1.03 per hour |
* Leading hand allowance – in charge of 11-15 employees |
$1.30 per hour |
* Leading hand allowance – in charge of 16 or more employees |
$1.59 per hour |
Meal allowance |
$14.10 for the first meal and $12.71 for an extra meal |
Nauseous work allowance |
$0.51 per hour or part thereof with a minimum of $2.77 per week |
Sleepover allowance |
$53.31 per night |
Tool allowance – cooks & chefs |
$0.33 per hour up to a maximum of $12.55 per week |
Vehicle allowance |
$0.92 per km |
Travelling reimbursement |
reimbursement for the cost of fares, meals and accommodation paid by the employee |
How is the leave managed in the Aged Care Award?
In the Aged Care Award, leave entitlements for employees are determined by the National Employment Standards (NES) and the classification of the employee.
Annual leave
All annual leave is per the National Employment Standards NES. Employees are entitled to 4 weeks paid leave per year, plus an additional week for some shift workers.
Payment for Annual Leave Loading
Under the Aged Care Award, a rate of 17.5% leave loading on top of their annual leave is applied when an employee takes paid time off.
Employees must be paid the higher of:
- An annual leave loading of 17.5% of their ordinary pay rate; or
- The weekend and shift penalties the employee would have received if they weren’t on leave during that period.
Public holidays
The National Employment Standards (NES) provide entitlements for public holidays.
- According to the NES, all employees are entitled to a paid day off on a public holiday (or unpaid for casual employees), except where reasonably expected to work.
- Under the Aged Care Award, any employee required to work on a public holiday will be paid 150% of the minimum hourly rate applicable to their classification.
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