“With Santa not far away, employers need to be aware of the upcoming public holidays and the associated obligations to their farm team,” says Matt.
“Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Years Day are all classed as public holidays here in Victoria. Dairy farm employees covered by the Pastoral Award 2020 must be paid penalty rates if they work on any of these days.”
Permanent employees (full-time or part-time)
Matt explains that if a permanent employee’s usual rostered day of work falls on a public holiday, there are two options.
“If your employee’s usual rostered workday is on the public holiday either the employee has the day off and is paid their base hourly rate for ordinary hours; or they work and are paid double their base hourly rate for each hour worked,” he says.
“Of course, if a public holiday falls on a permanent employee’s regular day off, they receive no additional pay.”
Matt adds that permanent employees on an Individual Flexibility Agreement or annualised salary may already have public holidays factored into their pay. This should be assessed on a case-by-case basis.
Casual employees
Casuals that work on a public holiday must be paid penalty rates.
“Penalty rates for casual employees are calculated on the ordinary time rate, not the loaded casual rate. ‘Double’ time for casuals is most easily expressed as 225 per cent of their base rate,” Matt says.
“For example, an employee on a casual rate of $32 an hour should be paid $57.60 an hour on a public holiday. This is calculated by dividing 32 by 125 (to find 1 per cent of the rate), then multiplying by 225.
“Casual employees that do not work on a public holiday are not entitled to any pay.”
More information regarding public holiday entitlements visit: Festive season public holidays 2024/2025 | The People in Dairy
If you would like support in understanding public holiday obligations, please contact WestVic Dairy via email or on (03) 5557 1000.
