Q – Are shift allowances payable when an employee takes annual or personal/carer’s leave?
A – You do need to check the particular EBA or Modern Award that covers your employee, but most commonly the answer is that these allowances are not payable when employees are on leave. This is because the allowance is paid in compensation for “unconventional” or “inconvenient” working hours. When the employee is not at work, this condition is not met. Also, according to the Fair Work Act, Annual and Personal/Carer’s leave is payable at base pay.
However, you also need to look at the leave loading clause of the Award or EBA. Very often you are required to pay leave loading at the higher of 17.5% or the shift loadings the person would have earned had they not been on leave. In this case, while the employee does not get the shift loading as such, they may be entitled to a larger amount of leave loading.
Q – Are shift allowances payable when an employee works overtime after the shift?
A – Again you need to check the particular EBA or Modern Award that covers your employee, but most commonly, these allowances are not payable during overtime.
Overtime is a separate period of work with its own payment rates, these rates are usually not cumulative as the shift loading is only payable during ordinary hours of work.
Q – Are shift allowances superable?
A – Yes, as shift allowances are payable during ordinary hours of work, they attract SG in the same way the ordinary hours they relate to do.