Breaks, leave & time off in lieu
Find out more about breaks and time off in lieu for the horticulture industry.
On this page:
Wine Award requirements
The Wine Award has different rules and requirements. To find out about breaks, leave and time off in lieu check the Wine Award.
Breaks
Under the Horticulture Award, employees get one paid rest break of 10 minutes per day or shift. They can agree with their employer to take an extra unpaid rest break each day.
Employees also get an unpaid meal break of between 30 minutes and one hour each day. The meal break has to be taken:
- no later than 5 hours after starting work, or
- at a time agreed to between the employer and employee.
If an employee is told to work during their meal break, they have to be paid 200% of their ordinary hourly rate for the time they work until they get at least 30 minutes for a meal break.
Employees have to get a minimum break of 10 hours between finishing work on one day and starting work on the next day or shift. There are rules in the award about what happens if an employee doesn’t get this break between shifts.
Learn more about break entitlements on our Breaks page, including tailored information for the Horticulture Award. You can also check the rules and requirements directly in the Horticulture Award.
Time off
The Horticulture Award allows an employer and employee to agree to the employee taking paid time off instead of being paid overtime pay. This is also known as 'time in lieu' or 'time off in lieu (TOIL)’. The agreement must be in writing and include specified details. The employer must keep a copy of the agreement. For an example of a time off agreement, see schedule H of the Horticulture Award.
The agreement can be terminated by the employer or employee at any time in writing.
The period of time off that an employee is entitled to take is the same as the number of overtime hours worked. For example, an employee who worked 2 overtime hours is entitled to 2 hours’ time off.
An employee must take the time off within 6 months of it being worked, at a time or times agreed by the employee and their employer.
Casual employees can take TOIL instead of getting paid overtime.
If a casual employee takes TOIL, then payment must be at least the base minimum rate plus the casual loading of 25%. If time off is not taken within 6 months, the employer must pay the employee for the overtime worked at the employee’s overtime rate that applied when the overtime was worked.
When an employee’s employment ends and time off has not been taken, the employer must pay the employee for the overtime at the employee’s overtime rate that applied when the overtime was worked.
Find out more about time off work on our Hours of work page including tailored information for the Horticulture Award. You can also check the rules directly in the Horticulture Award.