Fair Work Act 2009

An employer and an award/agreement free employee may agree in writing to an averaging arrangement under which hours of work over a specified period of not more than 26 weeks are averaged. The average weekly hours over the specified period must not exceed:

for a full‑time employee—38 hours; or

for an employee who is not a full‑time employee—the lesser of:

38 hours; and

the employee’s ordinary hours of work in a week.

The agreed averaging arrangement may provide for average weekly hours that exceed the hours referred to in paragraph (1)(a) or (b) if the excess hours are reasonable for the purposes of subsection 62(1).

Hours in excess of the hours referred to in paragraph (1)(a) or (b) that are worked in a week in accordance with an agreed averaging arrangement (whether the arrangement complies with subsection (1) or (2)) will be treated as additional hours for the purposes of section 62. The averaging arrangement will be relevant in determining whether the additional hours are reasonable (see paragraph 62(3)(i)).