How Overtime Pay Is Calculated in Australia

Ordinary Hours vs Overtime Hours

In Australia, ordinary hours are your agreed regular hours — up to 38 per week for full-timers under the NES. Hours worked beyond ordinary time, outside an award's spread-of-hours window, or on weekends/public holidays are overtime and attract penalty multipliers set by your award or enterprise agreement.

A typical award pattern is 150% of the ordinary hourly rate for the first two or three overtime hours, then 200% thereafter — but the exact tiers, daily caps and weekend rules vary. Always check your award's pay guide before relying on any multiplier.

Worked Example: $38/hr Base + 4 Hours at 1.5×

A full-time employee on $38.00/hour works 38 ordinary hours plus 4 overtime hours at time-and-a-half, every week:

• Ordinary pay: $38.00 × 38h = $1,444.00/week
• Overtime pay: $38.00 × 1.5 × 4h = $228.00/week
• Total weekly gross: $1,672.00 → $86,944.00/year
• Estimated FY 2026–27 take-home: $68,601.92/year

The same worker's blended effective rate is $39.81/hour across 42 hours — model your own tiers in the Overtime Pay Calculator.

Tax, Super and Limits on Overtime

Overtime is ordinary assessable income — it stacks on top of your salary and is taxed at your marginal tax rate. A sustained overtime habit can push part of your income into a higher bracket, across the HELP/HECS repayment threshold, or into Medicare Levy Surcharge territory.

For super, the 12% SG applies to Ordinary Time Earnings: distinctly-identifiable overtime payments are generally excluded, so a heavy-overtime year does not lift employer super by the same proportion. Convert any overtime-inclusive annual figure to its hourly equivalent with the Hourly to Salary Calculator to compare against flat-rate offers.