In Australia, employers must give minimum periods of notice to employees based on the employee's continuous service, as follows:
Employees over 45 years old, who have worked for an employer for at least 2 years get an extra week of notice.
A contract may generally be summarily terminated if the employee is fired because of serious misconduct (e.g., engaging in theft, fraud, or assault).
Australia offers two categories of work visa: temporary and permanent. Temporary work visas generally require skilled workers where employers cannot source an appropriately skilled Australian worker, and allow stays for up to 4 years (5 years for holders of Hong Kong passports). Permanent work visas are usually nominated by employers and can be regional or allow working anywhere in Australia.
In Australia, full-time and part-time employees are entitled to a minimum of four weeks of paid annual leave for every 12 months of continuous service. Shift workers are entitled to five weeks of paid annual leave. Casual workers are not eligible for annual leave. It is up to each employer and employee to agree on when and for how long annual leave can be taken.
Annual leave accumulates from the first day of employment, even if an employee is in a probationary period. The leave accumulates gradually during the year, and any unused annual leave will roll over from year to year. If the employee resigns or is dismissed, their accrued, unused annual leave must be paid out on termination.
Employees also receive entitlements for long (and usually continuous) service. In most jurisdictions, workers are entitled to 3 months’ leave after working for the same employer for 15 years.
The standard workweek in Australia is 38 hours. Awards, certified agreements, and Australian Workplace Agreements generally contain provisions setting out ordinary hours of work, rest breaks as well as overtime and penalty rates.
Eligible employees can request flexible working arrangements, such as changes to hours, patterns, or locations of work. Employees covered by an award also have some extra rights when asking for flexible working arrangements. Employees who have worked with the same employer for at least 12 months can request flexible working arrangement.
From February 2024, employees have the right to disconnect from their work outside of their normal working hours. They can refuse to monitor, read or respond to contact from an employer or a third party, unless such a refusal is unreasonable.
In Australia, eligible parents are entitled to 20 weeks of Parental Leave Pay following the birth or adoption of a child. Pregnant employees may begin their leave up to 6 weeks in advance of the expected date of delivery, but no later than the date of the child’s birth.
Individuals must notify their employer at least 10 weeks before the child’s due date or date of adoption. Claims for Parental Leave Pay may be submitted up to 3 months before the child’s expected date of birth or adoption, and up to 52 weeks after. Employers who offer employer-funded paid parental leave are prohibited from refusing an employee such leave in the event of a stillbirth or the death of the child within the entitled leave period.
The scheme provides eligible parents up to 24 weeks of Parental Leave Pay at the national minimum wage.
Effective July 1, 2026, the national minimum wage for adults and employees with a disability that does not impact working capacity is set at AUD 1,004.90 (Australian dollars) per week, based on a 38-hour workweek, or AUD 26.44 per hour. Casual employees receive a minimum of 25% casual loading.
There are special minimum wage rules set for certain categories of employees.
From January 1, 2025, intentionally underpaying an employee’s wages or entitlements can be a criminal offense. Employers may face criminal charges if they deliberately fail to pay employees amounts owed, such as wages, leave entitlements, superannuation contributions, or payments made under salary sacrifice arrangements. If the court can determine the amount of the employer’s underpayment, the maximum fine will be the higher of 3 times the amount of the underpayment or AUD 8.25 million. In the case of an individual employer, the court can impose a maximum of 10 years in prison, a fine, or both.
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