Can you ask salaried employees to work reasonable additional hours and what constitutes as *reasonable*? Is it actually a case of *too bad, so sad* OR are there legit rules you need to abide by? Our resident expert, Lisa has some answers.
Employees can be asked to work reasonable overtime, however, to be considered as *reasonable* the following must be considered:
- Any risk to health and safety from working the extra hours.
- The employee’s personal situation, including their family responsibilities.
- The workplace’s needs.
- If the employee is entitled to receive overtime payments or penalty rates for working the extra hours
- If they are paid at a higher rate on the understanding that they work some overtime.
- If the employee was given enough notice that they may have to work overtime.
- If the employee has already stated, they can’t ever work overtime.
- The usual patterns of work in the industry.
An employee can refuse to work overtime if the request is unreasonable.
Do you need some help to get your head around *reasonable* additional hours? Contact Lisa on (07) 4638 3599.