Minimum conditions of employment

As of 1 January 2010, all employers in the private sector in Queensland are covered by federal industrial laws. For more information about federal industrial laws go to Federal and State Industrial Laws. However, state long service leave laws will continue to apply.

 

Employing children

In Queensland, the Child Employment Act 2006 and Child Employment Regulation 2006 set the minimum working age and limit work hours for children. These laws do not apply to businesses entirely owned by a child’s close adult relative (such as a parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or sibling), including family farms. Children of any age may do domestic work, but non-family children under 13 cannot work on farms.

Hours of work and rest breaks: In Queensland, school-aged children (under 16 and required to attend school) can only work limited hours. They may work up to 12 hours in a school week, 38 hours in a non-school week, a maximum of 4 hours on a school day, and 8 hours on a non-school day. They cannot work between 10pm and 6am and must have a one-hour break after 4 consecutive hours of work. It is an offence for an employer or parent to allow a school-aged child to work when they should be at school.

Parental consent: The employer has a duty to ensure that a ‘parent’s consent form’ is completed before the child commences work.

Record Keeping: Employers must keep specific records for every worker under 18, in addition to standard employment records. These must include:

• the employer’s name and work address;
• the child’s full name, address, date of birth and contact details;
• the parent’s name, address and contact details;
• the name and contact details of a nominated person;
• the type of work the child performs;
• copies of any special circumstances certificates or work limitation notices; and
• for school-aged children, records of daily and weekly hours worked, start and finish times, meal and rest breaks, and a copy of the parent’s consent form.

For children who are not school-aged, a copy of official identification showing their date of birth must be kept. All records must be retained for at least two years after the child stops working for the employer.

More information including the parent consent form can be found at Employing children | Business Queensland.

 

Long service leave

Long service leave recognises an employee’s extended service with the same employer. In Queensland, all employers are covered by the long service leave provisions set out in the Queensland Industrial Relations Act 1999.

 

Amount of long service leave: From 3 June 2001, employees are entitled to 8.6667 weeks of long service leave for every 10 years of continuous service, with additional leave accruing on a pro-rata basis after each subsequent five years. Before this date, the entitlement was 13 weeks for every 15 years of service, and the legislation includes provisions to phase in the new entitlements for employees who were already employed as of 3 June 2001.

Continuous service: Continuous service refers to unbroken employment with the same employer. Certain absences do not break continuity, including:

• paid or unpaid leave approved by the employer (e.g. sick leave);
• termination due to illness or injury if the employee is re-employed and did not work elsewhere during the break;
• re-employment by the same employer within three months of termination; and
• absences caused by slackness of trade or industrial disputes, if re-employed by the same employer.

Unpaid leave, such as parental leave, does not break continuity but may not count toward the total years of service.

 

Payment for long service leave: The employer and employee can agree on when and how long service leave payments will be made. Leave must be paid at the employee’s ordinary rate of pay (excluding penalties and overtime) immediately before the leave is taken. If the employee was being paid a higher rate at that time, the higher rate must be used, and it is unlawful to reduce pay to avoid this.
If pay rates change during the leave period, the employee must be paid the adjusted rate for the relevant portion. Public holidays that fall during long service leave are paid as additional days.

 

Casual employees and part-time employees: Casual and part-time employees are entitled to long service leave on the same basis as full-time employees, with payment made pro rata based on their average hours worked over the 10-year period.

Leave is paid at the ordinary rate of pay at the time it begins, and may be taken on a full-time basis if both parties agree.

On termination, long service leave is paid out at the employee’s ordinary hourly rate. Employers must keep accurate records of hours worked for casual employees to ensure correct calculation.

 

Cashing in long service leave: Cashing out long service leave is only allowed if permitted by an award. As the Pastoral Award 2020 has no such provision, Queensland dairy employees can only cash out long service leave by applying to the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission on compassionate or financial hardship grounds.

If an employee dies before or during long service leave, the employer must pay the owed amount to the employee’s personal representative.

 

Taking long service leave: In Queensland’s dairy industry, employers and employees can agree on when long service leave is taken. If no agreement is reached, the employer may require the employee to take the leave by giving at least three months’ written notice, and the employee must then take a minimum of four weeks’ leave.

 

Pro rata long service leave on termination of employment: Employees with at least seven years of service are entitled to pro rata long service leave on termination if:

• the employee dies;
• they resign due to illness, incapacity, or pressing domestic necessity;
• the employer dismisses them for reasons other than conduct, capacity, or performance; or
• the employee is unfairly dismissed.

These limits do not apply once an employee has completed more than 10 years of service.

For more information on Long Service Leave in Queensland visit Long service leave in Queensland | Business Queensland.

 

Residential tenancies laws

Queensland residential tenancy laws may apply to on-farm accommodation that is not part of a broader commercial property lease. These laws set rules for notice periods, bonds, rent limits, repairs, inspections, and agreement terms, with fines for breaches.

While the laws protect both landlords and tenants, the four-week notice period can create issues when accommodation is part of an employee’s remuneration and the employee’s job ends—especially in cases of summary dismissal. In such situations, employers must apply to the tenancy tribunal to end the lease early on hardship grounds.

For more information on Queensland’s residential tenancies laws, visit The Queensland Government Residential Tenancies Authority. For more information on Accommodation visit Accommodation | The People in Dairy.