Thirty-eight hours is a common full-time benchmark in Australia, but it is not the only overtime trigger. Many awards also set daily maximums, spans of ordinary hours and roster rules. That means overtime can arise before or after a weekly total is reached.
Use this page to understand the benchmark, then use the overtime calculator to estimate the dollars.
Why 38 hours matters
The National Employment Standards refer to maximum weekly hours, and many awards use 38 ordinary hours as a full-time base. If a worker performs hours beyond ordinary weekly hours, overtime may apply. However, awards often contain more detailed rules than a single weekly number.
A worker might trigger overtime by working more than a daily limit, working outside the ordinary span, working on a rostered day off, or exceeding average hours over a roster cycle.
Questions to answer first
- Is the worker full-time, part-time or casual?
- What award or agreement applies?
- Are ordinary hours averaged over more than one week?
- Does the award set daily limits as well as weekly limits?
If you are checking a payslip, compare the weekly total with the daily pattern. A 42-hour week may not tell the full story if the extra hours occurred on a Sunday, public holiday or outside the span of ordinary hours.
Related calculators and guides
Common questions
Is overtime always after 38 hours?
No. Thirty-eight hours is common, but awards can use daily limits, averaging periods and spans of ordinary hours.
Can overtime apply under 38 hours?
Yes, if work is outside ordinary hours, beyond a daily limit or outside an agreed part-time pattern.
Does salary include overtime?
Sometimes a salary is intended to compensate for reasonable overtime, but the arrangement still needs to satisfy award and contract requirements.
Worked example using this guide
Example: $33 base rate with 4 hours after a 38 hour week at time and a half. The estimate is $33 x 1.5 x 4 = $198 for those extra hours. Use this as a gross-pay sense check, then compare it with the exact award, agreement or payroll rate that applies to the job.
If the shift includes more than one pay type, split it into separate lines before calculating. Ordinary hours, overtime, Sunday work and public holiday work can all use different multipliers. This is also why a payslip with a single blended hourly amount is harder to audit than a payslip that separates hours and rates.
For the fastest cross-check, open the overtime calculator, Sunday rates calculator, public holiday pay calculator or time and a half calculator in another tab and enter the same base rate and hours.