If your business is active in IT, quality auditing, telecommunications, or medical research, or if your employees are engaged in professional engineering or scientific work, then you may be covered by the Professional Employees Award [MA000065].
In 2023, the Award was updated to address record-keeping, overtime rules, and time off in lieu (TOIL), and from 1 July 2025, the Fair Work Commission increased modern award wages in Australia by 3.5%.
As a result, employers covered by the Professional Employees Award should review classifications, allowances, and penalty rates to ensure their employees are properly paid and receive the correct entitlements.
In this guide, we explain who the Professional Employees Award covers. We also discuss how to classify employees and which pay, leave, and penalty rules apply, so you can remain compliant, avoid costly back pay or other Fair Work issues, and maintain your business’s reputation.
Key Takeaways
- The Professional Employees Award covers many IT, engineering, science, telecommunications, quality auditing, and medical research roles—but only where employees meet the required professional qualifications and aren’t covered by another award.
- Employers must follow strict rules on pay, classifications, hours, penalty rates, and overtime—including the 2023 changes that introduced new overtime and record-keeping obligations.
- To stay compliant, employers need to classify staff correctly, pay at least the minimum Award rates, record all additional or after-hours work, and apply the right entitlements like meal breaks, allowances, and time off in lieu (TOIL).
Award Basics
The Professional Employees Award is a modern national workplace award made by the Fair Work Commission under the Commonwealth Fair Work Act 2009, one of Australia’s major employment laws. It’s designed to promote fair pay, safe and reasonable working hours, and transparent employment conditions for professional employees, and to give employers a clear framework for managing compliance.
The Award sets the minimum employment standards for degree-qualified or equivalently skilled workers in fields such as engineering, science, IT, medical research, and quality auditing, and covers baseline entitlements, like minimum pay, ordinary hours, overtime and penalty rates, allowances, and leave. Notably, the Award also applies to the work performed, not just to job titles.
Did You Know?
The minimum conditions of employment for employees covered by the Award are set out in the National Employment Standards (NES) and in the Award itself. The NES details 11 major entitlements for employees, including annual leave and notice periods.
Who’s covered under the Professional Employees Award?
Businesses covered
Businesses primarily involved in the following activities are covered by the Award:
- IT
- Medical research
- Quality auditing
- Telecommunications services
Roles covered
Commonly covered roles include:
- IT specialists like systems administrators and software developers
- Telecommunication engineers
- Professional engineers
- Scientists who undertake research, development, and project management tasks
- Clinical trial coordinators
- Biomedical scientists
Also covered are on-hire employees, such as engineers or IT consultants on temporary contracts.
Who isn’t covered under the Professional Employees Award?
The Award doesn’t cover:
- Senior executives and employees in high-level management roles.
- IT professionals, engineers, or scientists who don’t have the required qualifications or equivalent experience.
- Medical researchers employed by Award-covered health services or higher education institutions.
- Quality auditors who don’t meet the Award’s education or experience requirements.
- Local government employees.
- Employees whose roles are mainly clerical or administrative and don’t require professional qualifications.
The Professional Employees Award also doesn’t apply when employers and employees are covered by certain other awards. These include:
- Black Coal Mining Industry Award 2020
- Electrical Power Industry Award 2020
- Nurses Award 2020
- Port Authorities Award 2020
- Rail Industry Award 2020
- State Government Agencies Award 2020
- Water Industry Award 2020
Professional Employees Award Classifications and Levels
The Award groups employees under 3 principal categories: full-time, part-time, and casual.
- Full-time: Work hours average 38 per week and can be spread over a period of up to 13 weeks. Full-time employees have access to all the standard entitlements, including overtime compensation, penalty rates, allowances, and leave.
- Part-time: Work hours are fewer than 38 per week, and schedules are set out in employee contracts. Part-time employees get all the standard entitlements, but in proportion to their hours worked.
- Casual: Workers are brought in as needed. They don’t receive the same entitlements as permanent full-time or part-time employees, so they’re paid at a higher hourly rate, with a minimum work period of 2 consecutive hours per shift.
Classification structures in the Award set out different employee types:
- Schedule A outlines the classification structure for professional engineering, professional scientific, professional IT, and quality auditing employees.
- Schedule B outlines the classification definitions for medical research employees.
The classification levels for engineers, IT workers, scientists, and quality auditors in Schedule A are as follows:
| Level | Role | Scope of duties |
| Level 1 | IT or engineering graduates, and qualified scientists. | Perform basic professional tasks on small parts of larger projects, working in an office, plant, field, or laboratory. |
| Level 2 | Experienced engineer, IT technician, scientist, or quality auditor. | Engineers, IT employees, and scientists at this level: Work independently on professional tasks with limited supervision, receiving guidance only for unusual issues, and handle projects that require greater responsibility and experience. Quality auditors at this level: Meet ISO standards and conduct quality management system audits independently or as part of a team. |
| Level 3 | Professional or senior (lead) auditor. | Professionals at this level: Handle complex projects requiring advanced professional expertise, adapting existing guidelines and creating new solutions as needed. Quality auditors at this level: Meet ISO standards and lead audit teams to manage all aspects of quality management system audits. |
| Level 4 | Professional. | Professionals at this level work independently, contribute to planning, provide technical advice, organise work programs, and advise on equipment and materials. |
The classification levels for medical research employees in Schedule B are as follows:
| Level | Role | Scope of duties |
| Level 1 | Graduate professional medical researcher. | Carry out basic medical research tasks of limited scope, supporting the research team and working under professional supervision. |
| Level 2 | Experienced professional medical researcher. | Independently plan and conduct medical research, handling more responsible projects with guidance on unusual issues. |
| Level 3 | Experienced medical researcher. | Apply advanced professional expertise, oversee research projects, seek or hold independent funding, and help shape the research team’s direction. |
| Level 4 | Experienced medical researcher. | Make significant original contributions to their field, are nationally recognised, usually hold independent funding, and play a leading role in directing research. |
| Level 5 | Experienced medical researcher. | Employees at this level are recognised as national or international leaders in their field, oversee funded research programs, and lead a research team or unit. |
Pay Rates and Entitlements
The pay rates and entitlements contained in the Professional Employees Award set the minimum standards for what you need to pay your employees and the conditions they’re entitled to.
Minimum base rates
The Award sets out minimum annual salaries for full-time employees and minimum hourly pay rates for part-time employees. Graduate salaries and hourly rates are broken down into pay points. These reflect progression in experience and competence within their Level 1 classification. For instance:
- Pay Point 1.1: Entry level for graduate professionals. Graduates with a 3-year degree start at the standard entry rate, while those with a 4- or 5-year degree begin at a higher entry rate, in recognition of their extended qualifications.
- Pay Point 1.2: Applies once the graduate has gained initial workplace experience and demonstrated developing competence.
- Pay Point 1.3: Reflects further professional development, increased independence, and consistent performance.
- Pay Point 1.4: Indicates a fully competent graduate professional, typically the final progression point before potential advancement to Level 2.
Casual employees receive the same minimum hourly pay rates as part-time employees, plus a 25% loading for a total of 125%. This loading compensates for the lack of entitlements casuals receive.
To stay up to date with the latest pay rates, refer to the Award.
| Classification | Yearly salary | Hourly rate |
| Level 1 graduate professional at Pay Point 1.1 (holds a 3-year degree) | $63,795 | $32.18 |
| Level 1 graduate professional at Pay point 1.1 (holds a 4- or 5-year degree) | $65,430 | $33.01 |
| Level 1 graduate professional at Pay Point 1.2 | $66,528 | $33.56 |
| Level 1 graduate professional at Pay Point 1.3 | $69,298 | $34.96 |
| Level 1 graduate professional at Pay Point 1.4 | $72,809 | $36.73 |
| Level 2 | $75,261 | $37.97 |
| Level 3 | $82,250 | $41.49 |
| Level 4 | $92,767 | $46.80 |
| Level 5 | $111,756 | $56.38 |
To see how the minimum base rate works in practice, let’s take a Level 1 graduate engineer at Pay Point 1.2 working in a consulting firm.
If they worked full-time, they would be entitled to the minimum yearly salary of $66,528.
If the same employee worked part-time for 20 hours per week, you’d pay them $33.56 per hour, which equals $671.20 per week (20 × $33.56).
And if they were employed as a casual, they’d earn the same base rate of $33.56 per hour, plus a 25% casual loading of $8.39 per hour. This brings their casual rate to $41.95 per hour, so over 20 hours, they’d earn $839 (20 x $41.95).
Penalty rates
As an employer covered by the Professional Employees Award, you’ll need to pay your employees penalty rates. The exception is when an employee’s salary is at least 25% above the minimum wage for their job classification. If it is, employers are exempt from paying that employee penalty rates or overtime.
The penalty rates for employees below this threshold are as follows:
- From Monday to Saturday, full-time and part-time employees who work before 6.00 am or after 10.00 pm receive 125% of their minimum hourly rate for each hour worked, while casual employees receive 150%.
- On Sundays or public holidays, if working at any time of day, full-time and part-time employees receive 150% of their minimum hourly rate for each hour worked, while casual employees receive 175%.
Overtime rules
From the first full pay period starting on or after 16 September 2023, employees became entitled to overtime pay for working more than 38 hours per week, or more than an average of 38 hours over 13 weeks. This includes additional hours worked on callbacks or remotely (e.g., on a laptop or phone).
However, saying this, there are no fixed overtime penalty rates. Compensation for overtime under the Award is calculated through adequate salary and allowances.
These are the critical differences for overtime for the Professional Employees Award:
- Overtime is based on whether extra hours are reasonable, not on hours worked alone.
- There are no fixed overtime penalty rates under the Award.
- Extended hours may attract a meal allowance and must be reasonably compensated, but not through penalty loadings.
- Overtime compensation is covered by adequate salary and allowances, especially where extra hours are frequent.
- Time off in lieu (TOIL) is commonly used and taken hour-for-hour.
- Overtime or penalties aren’t required if the employee’s salary is 25% or more above the minimum Award rate.
- Since 2023, employers must record all hours worked beyond usual hours.
For more detailed information about overtime rules and rates, check the Award.
Breaks
The Award doesn’t expressly provide employees with entitlements to breaks, including unpaid meal breaks. For professional employees covered by the Award to be entitled to a meal break, this would need to come from an enterprise agreement, employment contract, or workplace policy.
Employees are expected to self-manage their own short pauses in work, subject to reasonable direction from their employers.
Allowances
Specific amounts for allowances aren’t provided in the Award, except for vehicle allowances.
| Allowance | Employer’s obligation | |
| Travel | Reimburse reasonable work-related travel costs, such as accommodation, meals, and other out-of-pocket expenses. | |
| Vehicle allowance | Pay $0.98 per kilometre when an employee uses their own vehicle for work. | |
| Equipment and special clothing | Provide, at no cost, any equipment or special clothing needed to do the job properly. | |
| Adjustment of expense-related allowances | Update expense-related allowances in line with the relevant Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) index. | |
Annual leave
The Award incorporates the NES minimum entitlement for annual leave. While it may set additional rules for leave management, it can’t provide less than the NES. Here are the fundamentals you should know about:
- Full-time and part-time employees (not casual employees) accumulate 4 weeks of paid annual leave per year of continuous service. This is calculated based on ordinary hours worked (pro rata for part-time employees) and follows the NES.
- Those who regularly work on Sundays and public holidays are entitled to receive 5 weeks’ paid annual leave (defined as a “7-day shiftworker”).
- Employees covered by the Award are entitled to an annual leave loading of 17.5% of their base rate of pay, payable on top of their annual leave pay.
- Employees can take annual leave as it accumulates. But taking annual leave in advance, or splitting it into multiple periods throughout the year, must be agreed with the employer.
- An employee may cash out accrued annual leave under a written agreement with their employer, but only up to 2 weeks in any 12-month period, and specific record-keeping requirements apply.
Other NES leave
Other types of leave covered by both the NES and the Award include:
- Personal/carer’s leave
- Compassionate leave
- Parental leave and related entitlements
- Community service leave
- Family and domestic violence leave
Pro Tip
You can use the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Leave Calculator to check how much leave applies to your role.
How To Determine Professional Employees Award Coverage
Before you set pay rates or entitlements for one of your employees, it’s best to check if they’re covered by the Award.
To determine coverage:
- Look at the nature of your employee’s work; the actual tasks they perform and the responsibilities they have. Don’t just base your assessment on their job title.
- Check the nature of your business. Does it fall under one of the categories covered by the Award (IT, telecommunications services, quality auditing, or medical research)?
- Make sure your employee isn’t already covered by another award. If they are, they’re not eligible for coverage under the Professional Employees Award.
- Refer to the employee classification structure in Schedule A of the Award (or Schedule B for medical research employees) to view specific job classifications.
- Use the Fair Work Ombudsman’s online tools and resources to review job classifications and make sure the employee is covered under a particular classification.
Pro Tip
You can use the Fair Work Award Finder to confirm coverage based on your business type and the actual duties your employees perform.
Professional Employees Award: A practical, real-world example
Let’s take the example of Marcus, a 27-year-old software engineer with a 3-year IT degree. He has 18 months’ experience working full-time for a mid-sized technology and software company from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm each day.
In the course of his employment, Marcus performs duties including incident triage, troubleshooting, producing technical reports, and escalating complex issues to senior software engineers.
Under the Award, Marcus is entitled to:
- A minimum yearly salary of $63,795, as a Level 1 graduate professional at Pay Point 1.1 (with a 3-year degree).
- Overtime compensation and penalty rates, which must be paid in addition to his ordinary salary (unless TOIL is mutually agreed), whenever he works:
- More than 38 hours a week.
- Before 6:00 am, Monday to Friday.
- After 10:00 pm, Monday to Friday.
- Any time on a Sunday.
- Any time on a public holiday.
- A vehicle allowance of $0.98 per kilometre when he uses his own vehicle for work.
- A travel allowance for work-related travel costs, such as accommodation, meals, and other out-of-pocket expenses.
Employer Obligations, Record-Keeping, and Common Mistakes
To comply with the Award and the Fair Work Act 2009, you must ensure you fulfil your obligations when paying and classifying your employees, and keep adequate records.
You are required to:
- Ensure your employees receive at least the minimum pay rates for their classification level.
- Correctly classify your employees’ roles based on their duties, qualifications, and experience.
- Comply with the Award’s rules on ordinary hours, reasonable additional hours, and the protection against excessive or unsafe workloads.
- Keep accurate records of all hours worked outside the ordinary span (before 6:00 am, after 10:00 pm, on weekends, and on public holidays) or in excess of 38 hours a week, including hours worked remotely after hours.
- Pay the required entitlements (where overtime compensation or penalty-rate hours occur) or have a valid TOIL agreement in place.
Record-keeping
If you’re covered by the Professional Employees Award as an employer, you’ll need to keep employee records. This follows the September 2023 changes mentioned above.
To comply with overtime, time off in lieu, and penalty rates, you’ll need to keep records if your employees work:
- Over 38 hours a week.
- Before 6.00 am or after 10.00 pm, Monday to Saturday.
- On Sundays or public holidays.
There are also record-keeping obligations for any of your employees who work remotely or via electronic devices outside their usual hours. These employees must keep their own timesheet or other record, logging the start and finish times and a description of the work performed. They’ll then need to submit this timesheet to you within a reasonable timeframe.
Common mistakes
To ensure compliance and fair practice, avoid these common errors:
- Classifying staff incorrectly, such as assuming all professionals are at Level 1 or that a “senior” job title automatically excludes someone from Award coverage.
- Overlooking the new record-keeping obligations as of September 2023.
- Incorrectly assuming a salaried employee is exempt from overtime rules without checking that their salary is 25% above the minimum Award rates.
- Failing to apply penalty rates for late-night or weekend work.
- Treating after-hours remote work as “incidental” and not recording it.
Resources and Links
For further reading and official resources, see the following:
- Professional Employees Award [MA000065]: A summary.
- Professional Employees Award 2020 [MA000065]: The full Fair Work Commission document detailing all pay rates, conditions, and classifications.
- Fair Work Ombudsman—Awards page: A general information page on modern Australian awards under the Fair Work Ombudsman.
- Fair Work Ombudsman: Pay and Conditions: Find pay guides, calculators, and employer obligations under the Fair Work Act 2009.
- Fair Work Information Statement: Key information every new employee must receive when starting a job.
- Fair Work Pay Calculator: Estimate pay, penalty, and overtime rates.
- Modern Awards Pay Database: Check up-to-date award rates for all classifications.
- A Guide to the Professional Employees Modern Award for Professional Scientists—Professional Scientists Australia
- Professional Employees Award—Local Government Engineers’ Association
The Professional Employees Award is a legal framework that sets minimum standards for wages, working conditions, and entitlements for professionals in certain industries in Australia. This award ensures that professionals in these industries are compensated fairly for their skills and expertise.
For the Professional Employees Award, a penalty rate of 25% applies to any hours worked before 6:00 am or after 10:00 pm on Monday to Saturday. In addition, a 50% penalty rate applies to work performed on Sundays or public holidays. For casual employees, a 25% casual loading applies on top of these penalty rates.
An employee must give their employer at least 1 month’s notice when resigning.If the employee fails to provide that notice, the Award allows the employer to deduct up to 1 week’s wages from the employee’s final pay, unless a shorter notice period was agreed.
Disclaimer
The information provided here is a summary only and does not constitute legal advice. While we have made every effort to ensure the information provided is up to date and reliable, we cannot guarantee its completeness, accuracy, or applicability to your specific situation. Laws change frequently, and outcomes may vary depending on your business circumstances. We recommend consulting a qualified employment lawyer before making decisions related to workforce management. Please note that we cannot be held liable for any actions taken or not taken based on the information presented on this website.