Sadly (for some), daylight saving time came to an end on Sunday 3 April 2022 in the Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales, South Australia, Tasmania and Victoria, with clocks going back 1 hour from 3 am to 2 am.
When local daylight time is about to end:
Sunday, 3 April 2022, 3:00:00 am clocks are turned backward 1 hour to
Sunday, 3 April 2022, 2:00:00 am local standard time instead.
Daylight saving time doesn’t apply in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
How does this impact payroll?
Businesses that operate 24/7 are the most likely to be impacted.
What are employees paid if they work when daylight saving time ends?
Employees should check their award, registered agreement or employment contract to see if there’s anything about daylight saving time in it.
Here is an example from the
MANUFACTURING AND ASSOCIATED INDUSTRIES AND OCCUPATIONS AWARD 2020 [MA000010]
17.6 Daylight saving For work performed which spans the start or finish of a system of daylight saving as prescribed by relevant State or territory legislation, an employee will be paid according to adjusted time (i.e. the time on the clock at the beginning of work and the time on the clock at the end of work).
Note: If their award, registered agreement or employment contract doesn’t say anything, employees that work overnight when daylight saving time ends are paid according to the clock.
Daylight saving time ends with rolling the clock back from 3 am to 2 am. This means that employees working an overnight shift work 1 hour more but aren’t paid for that extra hour.
When daylight saving time started, and the clock was rolled forward, employees worked 1 hour less but should have been paid according to the clock.
Example: Working through the night when daylight saving time ends
Wayne works in a factory as a shift worker and works an 8 hour shift.
He gets a unpaid 30-minute break. His award and employment contract is silent about his pay entitlements when daylight saving time starts or ends.
When daylight saving time ends, and the clock rolls back, Wayne works his usual shift. While he actually works one extra hour, he is still only paid for a 7.5-hours. When daylight saving time started and the clock rolled forward, Wayne worked one less hour but was paid for a 7.5-hour shift.