The A to Z of legal jargon

An action taken by an employer, employee, contractor or industrial association, which may be unlawful depending on…

Annual leave is an entitlement for full time and part time employees to be paid when not working. Accrued but…

Annual leave loading is an additional amount that's paid to eligible employees when they take annual leave.

An annual shut down is a period during which a company temporarily closes during slow periods of the year. Eg…

The base rate of pay is the minimum hourly pay rate an employee is entitled to for their ordinary hours of work.

The BOOT is a test that the Fair Work Commission uses to assess proposed enterprise agreements against modern award…

A break is a period of time during a shift when an employee is entitled to not work. A break can be paid or unpaid,…

Bullying at work is unreasonable and repeated behaviour directed at an individual or group of people. Bullying can…

Carer's leave is paid or unpaid leave for employees to take time off from work to care for an immediate family or…

A casual employee who is a person who accepts an offer for a job from an employer knowing that there is no firm…

A casual loading is an amount paid to a casual employee in addition to their base rate of pay. The casual loading…

A classification is a description of a position in a modern award or enterprise agreement. A classification usually…

Community service leave is leave taken to participate in community service activities. Eg jury duty and voluntary…

Compassionate leave is leave taken when a member of an employee's immediate family or household is seriously ill or…

A constitutional corporation is a 'financial or trading' corporation formed within the limits of the Commonwealth,…

Constructive dismissal is when an employee is forced to resign from their employment due to the conduct of their…

Continuous service is the total length of time that an employee is employed with an employer.

A coverage clause is contained in a modern award or enterprise agreement. It describes what types of employees and…

A daily hire employee works either full-time or part-time hours, but is only entitled to 1 day's notice of…

Discrimination is when a person or group of people is treated less favourably because of a protected attribute,…

A Division 2B state award is an award that covers state reference employers and their employees in NSW, Queensland,…

An employee is a person employed to perform work to a company either on a full-time, part time or casual basis in…

An employer association is an organisation established to advance the interests of employer members.

Employment is the relationship between an employee and employer within which the employee performs work at the…

An employment contract is an agreement between an employer and an employee that sets out terms and conditions of…

An enterprise agreement is negotiated by employers, employees and in some situations unions. It sets out the…

An enterprise award is a modern award that applies to one or more companies and their employees covered by the…

The FEG is a Commonwealth Government scheme under which employees can claim entitlements that their employer can't…

The Fair Work Commission is a Commonwealth Government agency created by the Fair Work Act. The role of the Fair…

The Fair Work Information Statement is a document that contains information on employment laws that an employer…

The Fair Work Ombudsman is a Commonwealth Government agency created by the Fair Work Act. The role of the Fair Work…

A fixed term contract is a contract of employment that is made for a specific period. After the specific period,…

A flexible working arrangement is a change to an employee's work hours, pattern of work or location of work. Under…

A franchise is a business arrangement that allows an individual, partnership or company to operate under the name…

A full time employee is employed to work 38 hours each week on an ongoing basis, and is entitled to benefits such…

Garden leave is where an employee serves out their notice period away from the workplace. They stay employed and…

The general protections are a set of rights in the Fair Work Act provided to all employees under the national…

Gross pay is the total amount an employee earns before tax and other deductions.

A guarantee of annual earnings is a written arrangement that allows an employer to pay an employee the high income…

Harassment is unwelcome conduct that offends, humiliates or intimidates a person. It includes sexual harassment,…

The high income threshold is set by the Fair Work Commission each year. From 1 July 2021, the high income threshold…

An immediate family member is a spouse or former spouse, de facto partner or former de facto partner, child,…

An independent contractor is a person or company that provides services under a contract for services. An…

An IFA is a written agreement between an employer and employee that varies the effect of specific clauses in an…

Long service leave is paid to employees who have worked for the same company for a minimum period of time. The…

A long term casual is a casual employee who has been employed by the same employer on a regular and systematic…

A modern award is an industrial instrument that sets out the minimum terms and conditions of employment for…

The NES are the 11 minimum entitlements that all employees covered by the national workplace relations system are…

The national minimum wage is the minimum rate of pay for employees covered by the national workplace relations…

A national system employee is an employee employed or usually employed by a national system employer.

A national system employer may be: A constitutional corporation The Commonwealth (or a Commonwealth authority) A…

Notice of termination is the notice an employer or employee must give to end the employment. The minimum is set by…

On-hire employment is when a company employs a person and provides that employee to another company (referred to as…

Ordinary hours are hours that an employee works, excluding overtime and within any parameters imposed by an…

The ordinary pay rate is the base rate of pay than an employee is paid for each ordinary hour of work that they…

An outworker is an employee or contractor who performs their work at home or at a place that isn't generally…

Overtime is a higher pay rate for each hour that an employee works outside of their ordinary hours of work, as set…

Paid parental leave is leave paid by the Commonwealth Government for the birth or adoption of a child. 18 weeks of…

Parental leave allows employees to take 12 months of unpaid leave when a child is born or adopted. Employee must…

A part time employee is an employee who works less than 38 hours each week with a firm advance commitment to…

A penalty rate is a higher rate of pay set out in an applicable modern award or enterprise agreement for each hour…

Personal leave (or sick leave) is paid or unpaid leave that an employee takes when they cannot work due to illness…

A pieceworker is an employee who is paid by the 'piece' - ie by the number of items that they make or the number of…

A pre-modern award is an award that existed before 1 January 2010. Eg award-based transitional instruments and…

A pre-reform award is an award that was made before 27 March 2006. After 1 July 2009, pre-reform awards became…

A probation period is a period of time at the start of employment that the employer uses to assess a new employee's…

A public holiday is a day during which an employer cannot unreasonably require an employee to work. If an employee…

Redundancy is where an employee is dismissed because the employer no longer requires the employee's job to be…

A redundancy determination is a decision that the Fair Work Commission makes to reduce the amount of redundancy pay…

A referring State is a State that has handed over (ie referred) its workplace relations powers to the Commonwealth.…

A restraint of trade is a contract term that limits what an employee can do after they leave, such as working for a…

A return to work guarantee is an employee's right to return to the same position that they held before taking…

The right to disconnect lets an employee refuse to monitor, read or respond to work contact outside their working…

Serious misconduct is deliberate conduct by an employee that is inconsistent with their contract of employment…

A set-off clause lets an annual salary cover, or set off, separate award entitlements such as overtime and penalty…

Sexual harassment is any unwanted or unwelcome sexual behaviour where a reasonable person would have anticipated…

A sham contract is an attempt by an employer to misrepresent or disguise an employment relationship as an…

A shiftworker is an employee who works fixed hours of work (eg shifts or rosters) that are outside or partly…

A small business employer is an employer that has less than 15 employees. All employees of associated entities must…

A sole trader is an individual who runs their own business as an individual, rather than through a partnership or…

Stand down is where an employer directs an employee to not attend work because the employee cannot be usefully…

A State industrial instrument is an award, an agreement (whether individual or collective), or another industrial…

Superannuation is money paid by an employer on behalf of an employee into a superannuation fund to provide for the…

Time in lieu is an arrangement where an employer gives an employee paid time off work instead of paying the…

A transferring employee is an employee who transfers from an old employer to a new employer as part of a transfer…

An underpayment is where an employee is paid less than their lawful entitlement under an award, agreement or the…

Unfair dismissal is where an employee's dismissal is harsh, unjust or unreasonable, and is not a 'genuine…

Workers compensation is a scheme run on a State and Territory basis that compensates employees for work-related…

A workplace right is an entitlement to a benefit, role or process under a workplace law or instrument, including…