Australia: I update bookings between casual shifts — should that time be paid?

Scenario

You are a casual booking assistant told to log in from home and update reservations before you know whether you will attend a paid shift. Your employer pays only time on site. You need to know whether the app work and waiting time count.

What the law says

Yes: required active booking work must be paid even if done at home between casual shifts. Simply being available is a separate question; whether passive monitoring counts as work depends on the duties and restrictions. The applicable award or agreement controls classification, casual loading, minimum engagement, call-back pay and any standby allowance. There is no universal paid standby rate or two- or three-hour minimum for every casual job.

What you can claim

Start with unpaid task hours × the applicable casual hourly rate, using the award classification and rate in force on each work date. Add any applicable penalty or overtime rates, minimum-engagement top-up and allowances, without double-counting loading already included in the rate. Subtract wages paid for the same work. Required super contributions on eligible earnings are separate. Log passive availability separately so the award and work restrictions can be assessed rather than charging every waiting hour automatically.

What the employee can do

1. Record required logins, tasks, start and finish times, response deadlines and restrictions on personal time. Keep app instructions, rosters and payslips, separating active tasks from availability.

2. Use the Fair Work Ombudsman’s award and Pay and Conditions tools to identify the industry, duties and classification; check any enterprise agreement. Send payroll your time-and-rate calculation and ask which minimum-engagement or standby clause it applied.

3. If unresolved, contact the Fair Work Ombudsman on 13 13 94 with your employer details, instructions, time log and pay calculation. A Fair Work small claim generally must be filed within six years after each entitlement should have been paid; a complaint or negotiation should not be assumed to stop that clock.

Common misconception, corrected

Having no guaranteed future shifts does not make required work free. It also does not mean every hour of availability attracts a fixed standby allowance.

Matching guides

Read Identify the applicable award and classification.

Read Check roster and hours changes.