Employment Law
National Employment Standards: All 11 Minimum Entitlements Explained
The National Employment Standards (NES) are the safety net of minimum entitlements that apply to all employees in the national workplace relations system. Regardless of any award, agreement, or contract, you cannot provide less than the NES. Here is what every employer needs to know.
The 11 National Employment Standards
Maximum Weekly Hours
38 hours per week for full-time employees, plus reasonable additional hours. Part-time employees work fewer hours as agreed.
Requests for Flexible Working Arrangements
Eligible employees (parents, carers, those with disability, 55+, experiencing family violence) can request changes to hours, patterns, or location of work. Employers can only refuse on reasonable business grounds and must respond in writing within 21 days.
Offers and Requests to Convert from Casual Employment
Casual employees who have been employed for 12 months can request conversion to permanent employment. Non-small business employers must also make offers of conversion. Employers can only refuse on fair and reasonable grounds.
Parental Leave and Related Entitlements
Up to 12 months unpaid parental leave (with a right to request an additional 12 months) for employees who have completed at least 12 months of service. This includes birth-related leave, adoption leave, and special maternity leave.
Annual Leave
4 weeks (20 days) paid annual leave per year for full-time employees (5 weeks for shift workers). Part-time employees receive a pro-rata amount. Annual leave accumulates, carries over, and is paid out on termination.
Personal/Carers Leave, Compassionate Leave, and Family Violence Leave
10 days paid personal/carers leave per year (accumulates), 2 days paid compassionate leave per occasion, and 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave per year.
Community Service Leave
Unpaid leave for voluntary emergency management activities (with make-up pay for jury service). There is no maximum period for emergency service activities.
Long Service Leave
The NES preserves existing state and territory long service leave entitlements. Most states provide 8.67 weeks after 10 years of continuous service.
Public Holidays
Employees are entitled to be absent from work on public holidays. Employers can request work on a public holiday but the request must be reasonable and the employee can reasonably refuse.
Notice of Termination and Redundancy Pay
Minimum notice periods of 1-5 weeks based on length of service (plus 1 week for employees over 45 with 2+ years service). Redundancy pay of 4-16 weeks based on service (small businesses exempt).
Fair Work Information Statement and Casual Employment Information Statement
Employers must provide the Fair Work Information Statement to all new employees before or as soon as practicable after they start. Casual employees must also receive the Casual Employment Information Statement.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Mistake: Not providing the Fair Work Information Statement
Fix: Download the current version from fairwork.gov.au and include it in your onboarding pack. Provide it before or as soon as practicable after the employee starts.
Mistake: Contracting out of NES entitlements
Fix: No contract, award, or agreement can reduce NES entitlements. If your contract provides less than the NES on any point, the NES prevails.
Mistake: Not accruing leave correctly for part-timers
Fix: Part-time employees accrue leave on a pro-rata basis according to their ordinary hours. Ensure your payroll system calculates this correctly.
Mistake: Refusing flexible work requests without proper process
Fix: You must respond in writing within 21 days, discuss the request with the employee, and can only refuse on reasonable business grounds with specific reasons.
Penalties for Breaching the NES
Contravening the NES is a civil remedy provision under the Fair Work Act:
Serious contraventions (deliberate and part of a systematic pattern) attract penalties up to 10 times these amounts. The Fair Work Ombudsman has successfully prosecuted employers for NES breaches including underpayment of leave, failure to provide notice of termination, and denial of flexible work requests.
When to Get Professional Help
Consider engaging an HR consultant when you:
- Want a full NES compliance audit of your employment practices
- Need to update employment contracts and policies to reflect NES changes
- Are unsure how the NES interacts with your applicable award or agreement
- Have received a compliance notice or audit request from the Fair Work Ombudsman
Jordan Firme Business Consultants provides comprehensive NES compliance audits and helps employers build systems that stay compliant as the law evolves.
Frequently Asked Questions
The 11 NES are: maximum weekly hours (38 hours plus reasonable additional hours), requests for flexible working arrangements, offers and requests to convert from casual employment, parental leave and related entitlements, annual leave (4 weeks), personal/carers leave (10 days), compassionate leave (2 days per occasion), family and domestic violence leave (10 days), community service leave, long service leave, public holidays, notice of termination and redundancy pay, and the Fair Work Information Statement.
No. The NES are minimum entitlements that cannot be reduced by any award, enterprise agreement, or individual contract. Any agreement that provides less than the NES to that extent is void. However, awards and agreements can provide entitlements above the NES minimum.
Most but not all NES apply to casual employees. Casuals are entitled to 2 days unpaid carers leave per occasion, 2 days unpaid compassionate leave per occasion, family and domestic violence leave, community service leave, and the Fair Work Information Statement. They are not entitled to paid annual leave, paid personal leave, notice of termination, or redundancy pay under the NES.
An employer must not request or require a full-time employee to work more than 38 hours per week plus reasonable additional hours. Whether additional hours are reasonable depends on health and safety risks, personal circumstances, notice given, the nature of the role, whether the employee is being compensated (through overtime rates or higher salary), and the usual patterns of work in the industry.
Employees are entitled to be absent from work on a day or part-day that is a public holiday. The NES recognises 8 national public holidays plus any additional state or territory public holidays. Employers can request employees to work on a public holiday, but the employee can refuse if the request is not reasonable or the refusal is reasonable.
The NES has been progressively updated through amendments to the Fair Work Act. Significant recent changes include the addition of 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave (from 1 February 2023), casual conversion provisions (updated 26 August 2024), and the right to disconnect (added 26 August 2024). Employers should review their compliance each time changes are made.
Related Resources
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