The Ultimate Health Professionals and Support Services Award (MA000027) Summary [2024 Updated]

You can read also read our article that covers the 7 conditions commonly missed by employers in the Health Professionals and Support Services Award.

In addition, you can download a FREE copy of our Health Professionals and Support Services Award eBook that covers everything you need to know about the award, without the jargon which comes with a BONUS payroll processing checklist. 

This summary provides will provide you a comprehensive understanding of everything you need to know about the Health Professionals and Support Services Award to ensure you have maximum compliance.

Disclaimer:
Please note that every effort has been made to ensure that the information provided in this guide is accurate. You should note, however, that the information is intended as a guide only, providing an overview of general information available. This guide is not intended to be an exhaustive source of information and should not be seen to constitute legal or tax advice. You should, where necessary, seek a second professional opinion for any legal or tax issues raised in your business affairs.

Examples of health professionals and support services include the delivery of: 

• health care;
• medical services; and 
• dental services.

The Health Professionals and Support Services Award also covers:

• on-hire employees - who are employees that are supplied to the employer’s client to work under them; and 
• employers who provide group training services for apprentices and trainees engaged in the children’s services industry.   

• Full-time
• Part-time; or
• Casual

Full-Time Employees

To be classified as a full-time employee under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award, they must work an average of 38 hours per week.

Part-Time Employees

To be classified a part-time employee, they must: 

1. work less than 38 hours per week;
2. have reasonable predictability in terms of the hours they work; and 
3. receive, on a pro-rata basis, pay and conditions equivalent to full-time employees. 

Regular Pattern of Work Agreement

At the time of employment, the employer and employee must agree in writing on a regular pattern of work, specifying at least: 

• which days of the week the employee will work; 
• the number of hours to be worked each week; and
• the starting and finishing times of each workday. 

Changes can be made to the agreement in writing. 

Casual Employees

Under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award, a casual employee is an employee that doesn’t fit into the full- or part-time categories and who works on an hourly basis. 

A casual employee must work a minimum of 3 hours per day (or 2 hours for cleaners) and can work up to and including 38 hours per week. 

Instead of receiving paid leave benefits, casual workers are paid an additional 25% loading on top of their minimum hourly rate. 

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Right to Request Casual Conversion

A regular casual employee is someone who is employed casually on a regular basis for at least 12 months. 

In some cases, a casual employee can apply to have their employment contract changed into a part-time or full-time contract depending on the number of hours they regularly work:

1. An employee that works an average of 38 or more hours a week over 12 months may elect to change over to a full-time contract
2. An employee that works an average of fewer than 38 hours a week over 12 months may elect to change over to a part-time contract

The employer has full discretion to accept, in writing, or refuse the request. However, if the employer chooses to deny the request, it needs to be based on reasonable grounds, such as:

• to fulfil the requirements of the new employment type, there is a significant change to the number of work hours;
• the casual position may not exist in the next 12 months; 
• the casual position may have reduced working hours within the next 12 months; or 
• there is likely to be significant changes in the casual employee’s work days and times within the next 12 months that doesn’t suit the employee’s availability.

All grounds of refusal should be known or reasonably foreseeable.

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Ordinary Hours of Work

Ordinary hours of work under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award must not exceed:

• 38 hours per week; or
• 10 hours per day (exclusive of meal breaks).

Span of Hours - Day Workers

Ordinary hours of a day worked may be worked from Monday to Friday between 6.00 am and 6.00 pm.

Rostering Arrangements 

The following rostering arrangements apply to full-time and part-time employees in terms of the Health Professionals and Support Services Award:

• the ordinary hours of work for each employee be displayed on a fortnightly roster in an easily accessible place; 
• the roster must be posted at least 2-weeks before the start of that roster period; and 
• except in emergencies; any changes to the roster must be communicated with 7-day’s notice. 

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For more information on the industry pay conditions, please refer to the latest Pay Guide for the Health Professionals and Support Services Award.

Please also refer to the minimum rates for different classifications here.

If you aren't sure about the classification structure, we break it down in our Health Professionals and Support Services Award eBook.

Employers must ensure that a salary staff's annual wage can't be less than what they would've been paid over the year if they were paid all the award entitlements for their job.

If you have salary staff covered by the Clerks Private Sector Award, check out our Ultimate Guide on Annualised Salary Changes.

• 2 hours or less in any higher classified duties will be paid at a higher rate for the time worked at the higher level; and 
• more than 2 hours in any higher classified duties will be paid at a higher rate for the full day or shift worked at the higher level.

Where one Health Professional employee is required to take on the higher duties of another Health Professional employee (because he/she is on leave for example) for 5 or more days, then they must be paid at least the same as the minimum wage rate for those higher duties. 

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Wage-Related Allowances: 

• Heat allowance: if work continues for more than 2 hours in temperatures exceeding 46°C, employees will be entitled to 20 minutes rest after every 2 hours work without deduction of pay.
• Nauseous work allowance: if employees have to handle linen of a nauseous nature and/or work which is of an unusually dirty or offensive nature, they are entitled to an additional allowance. 
• Occasional interpreting allowance: an employee not employed as a full-time interpreter who is required to perform interpreting duties will receive an additional allowance.
• On-call allowance: an employee required by the employer to be on-call will receive an additional allowance for week-day (including Saturday) on-call shifts as well as Sunday on-call shifts.

Expense-Related Allowances: 

• Blood check allowance: any employee exposed to radiation hazards will be entitled to a blood count as often as is considered necessary and will be reimbursed for any the costs; 

• Clothing and equipment allowance: employees required to wear uniforms will be supplied with an adequate number of uniforms free of cost.
• Uniform allowance: if uniforms are not supplied, then the employer must pay the employee an allowance to cover the cost of the uniform.
• Laundry allowance: if you require your employees launder their clothing, they are entitled to an allowance.
• Damaged clothing allowance: if an employee, while at work, suffers any damage to or soiling of clothing, the employer will be liable for the replacement, repair or the cleaning of the clothing.
• Deduction for board and lodging: where the employer provides board and lodging, the prescribed wage rates will be reduced.
• Meal allowance: if your employee is required to work more than 1 hour overtime, you must supply them with a meal or pay them an allowance. 
• Telephone allowance: if an employee has to install and/or maintain a telephone for on-call shifts, the employer must refund the installation costs and monthly costs of using the telephone. 
• Tool allowance: a tool allowance for the supply and maintenance of tools will be paid to chefs and cooks who are not provided with all the necessary tools by the employer.
• Transport allowance: where an employer requests an employee to use their own car to perform employment duties or for any other reason whilst on duty, they are entitled to an allowance. 

Search our database for all relevant allowances to your modern award.

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As of 1 July 2022, however, employers are required to pay a super guarantee on behalf of eligible employees, regardless of how much they are paid.

Currently, a rate of 11.5% of an employee’s ordinary earnings must be contributed.

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• the ordinary weekly hours of work are exceeded; or 
• they work more than 10 hours per shift. 

A part-time employee is entitled to overtime when:

• their ordinary weekly hours of work are exceeded; 
• they work more than 38 hours per week; or 
• they work more than 10 hours per shift.

A casual employee is entitled to overtime when: 

• they work more than 10 hours per shift; or 
• they work more than 38 hours per week or 76 hours in a fortnight.

Overtime Rates

The table below outlines the overtime rates that need to be paid to full- and part-time employees:

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Rest Period After Overtime 

Where an employee works overtime, they must be given 10 hours off from the time they end their shift to the start of their next shift without loss of pay for their ordinary hours. 

If they aren’t given the 10 hours off, they must be paid as follows: 

Time Off Instead of Payment for Overtime

It is possible for an employer and employee to agree (in writing) to taking time off for their overtime, instead of getting paid the overtime rates. 

Employees are entitled to take time off based on what their overtime payment would have been. For example, if a casual employee worked 2 hours overtime, they are entitled to 3 hours time off (2 x 150%).

If, however, the employee requests it, the employer must pay the employee for overtime covered by the agreement but not taken as time off; and any payment must be made in the next pay period following the request.

Employers may not put pressure on employees to take time off instead of payment for overtime.

Time off must be taken:

1. within 6 months after the overtime is worked; and 
2. at a time within that 6 month period that is agreed on by both the employee and employer 

Should the employee not take the time-off within the 6 month period, the employer must pay the employee as per the overtime rates. 

If on termination of the employee’s employment, the employer must pay the employee for the overtime worked at the applicable overtime rate. 

Example:

Mary, a full-time employee at a dental clinic, worked 3 hours overtime.

She had agreed with his employer to receive time off as opposed to getting paid for her overtime hours. 

According to the overtime rates, Mary is entitled to receive 200% of her ordinary hourly rate. So, her time off calculation will be as follows: 

3-hours x 200% overtime rate = 6 hours time off

However, this time off needs to be taken within six months of the worked overtime and at a time that is agreed on by both the employer and employee.

Penalty Rates

Penalty rates are higher rates that need to be paid for working outside of the Health Professionals and Support Services Award ordinary hours. 

The table below outlines the penalty rates that are to be paid at the weekend: 

The table below outlines the shiftworker penalty rates: 

A casual employee who works shiftwork will be paid 140% of the minimum hourly rate of pay applicable to their classification and pay point but will not be paid the casual loading of 25%.

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Payment for Annual Leave Loading

Under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award, a rate of 17.5% leave loading on top of their annual leave is applied when an employee takes paid time off.

Employees must be paid the higher of:

• An annual leave loading of 17.5% of their ordinary pay rate; or
• The weekend and shift penalties the employee would have received if they weren’t on leave during that period.

Example:

If a full-time employee applies for leave between Thursday this week and Wednesday next week, he or she would typically work 8 hours of shiftwork on a Saturday too. 

The employer must calculate 38 hours, including a 17.5% leave loading and compare with how much the employee will typically receive if they had been paid working across that period with the Saturday penalty rates.

Whichever of the two calculations is higher is how much the employee should be paid across that period of time, not for individual days.

The idea is so that the employee is protected from being paid less for going on paid annual leave. 

Alternative Leave Arrangements: 

• Leave in advance: employers and employees may agree in writing to the employee taking a period of paid annual leave before the employee has accrued the leave. 

• Cashing out annual leave: employers and employees may agree in writing to cashing out a particular amount of an employee’s accrued paid annual leave. 

• Excessive leave accruals: employers and employees may agree in writing on how to reduce or eliminate excessive leave accrual. An excessive leave accrual is defined as having accrued more than 8 weeks paid annual leave, or 10 weeks for a shift worker.  

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According to the NES, all employees are entitled to a paid day off on a public holiday (or unpaid for casual employees), except where reasonably expected to work. 

Under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award, any employee required to work on a public holiday will be paid 250% of the minimum hourly rate applicable to their classification.

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Notice of Termination by an Employee

An employee classified under the Health Professionals and Support Services Award must give their employer notice of termination as below:

The notice that an employee is required to give is the same required of an employer, except the employee does not have to provide additional notice based on their age.

If an employee who is at least 18 years old does not give the period of notice required, then the employer can deduct from wages due to the employee. However, no more than one week’s wages should be deducted.

If the employer has agreed to a shorter period of notice, then no deduction can be made.

Job Search Entitlement

When an employer has given notice of termination to an employee in terms of the Children’s Services Award, the employee must be allocated paid time up to one day, so that they can search for new employment elsewhere. 

The allocated time should be taken when convenient to the employee and after consultation with the employer.

You can also download a FREE copy of our Health Professionals and Support Services Award eBook with a BONUS payroll processing checklist to ensure you maximise your payroll compliance.

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