Pastoral Award 2020 — FWC Award text hosted by the Fair Work Ombudsman

FWC · MA000035 · Clause 17

17. Annualised wage arrangements

17.1 Annualised wage instead of award provisions

(a) An employer and a full-time employee may enter into a written agreement for the employee to be paid an annualised wage in satisfaction, subject to clause 17.1(c), of any or all of the following provisions of the award:

(i) clauses 32, 37, and 47—Minimum rates;

(ii) clauses 18 and 33—Allowances and special allowances;

(iii) clause 34.3—Ordinary hours of work and rostering (Broadacre Farming and Livestock Operations);

(iv) clause 35, 43 and 49—Overtime and penalty rates;

(v) clause 42—Penalty rates for shiftwork (Pig Breeding and Raising);

(vi) clause 20.5—Annual leave loading;

(vii) clause 44—Saturdays and Sundays (Pig Breeding and Raising); and

(viii) clauses 35.5, 45 and 49.3—Public holidays.

(b) Where a written agreement for an annualised wage agreement is entered into, the agreement must specify:

(i) the annualised wage that is payable;

(ii) which of the provisions of this award will be satisfied by payment of the annualised wage;

(iii) the method by which the annualised wage has been calculated, including specification of each separate component of the annualised wage and any overtime or penalty assumptions used in the calculation; and

(iv) the outer limit number of ordinary hours which would attract the payment of a penalty rate under the award and the outer limit number of overtime hours which the employee may be required to work in a pay period or roster cycle without being entitled to an amount in excess of the annualised wage in accordance with clause 17.1(c).

(c) If in a pay period or roster cycle an employee works any hours in excess of either of the outer limit amounts specified in the agreement pursuant to clause 17.1(b)(iv) such hours will not be covered by the annualised wage and must separately be paid for in accordance with the applicable provisions of this award.

(d) The employer must give the employee a copy of the agreement and keep the agreement as a time and wages record.

(e) The agreement may be terminated:

(i) by the employer or the employee giving 12 months’ notice of termination, in writing, to the other party and the agreement ceasing to operate at the end of the notice period; or

(ii) at any time, by written agreement between the employer and the individual employee.

17.2 Annualised wage not to disadvantage employees

(a) The annualised wage must be no less than the amount the employee would have received under this award for the work performed over the year for which the wage is paid (or if the employment ceases or the agreement terminates earlier, over such lesser period as has been worked).

(b) The employer must each 12 months from the commencement of the annualised wage arrangement or, within any 12 month period upon the termination of employment of the employee or termination of the agreement, calculate the amount of remuneration that would have been payable to the employee under the provisions of this award over the relevant period and compare it to the amount of the annualised wage actually paid to the employee. Where the latter amount is less than the former amount, the employer shall pay the employee the amount of the shortfall within 14 days.

(c) The employer must keep a record of the starting and finishing times of work, and any unpaid breaks taken, of each employee subject to an annualised wage arrangement agreement for the purpose of undertaking the comparison required by clause 17.2(b). This record must be signed by the employee, or acknowledged as correct in writing (including by electronic means) by the employee, each pay period or roster cycle.

17.3 Base rate of pay for employees on annualised wage arrangements

For the purposes of the NES, the base rate of pay of an employee receiving an annualised wage under this clause comprises the portion of the annualised wage equivalent to the relevant rate of pay in the Minimum wage provisions of either clause 32 or clause 37 or clause 47 and excludes any incentive-based payments, bonuses, loadings, monetary allowances, overtime and penalties.

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Official document

Pastoral Award 2020 — FWC Award text hosted by the Fair Work Ombudsman ↗

Version

This Fair Work Commission consolidated modern award incorporates all amendments up to and including 1 July 2026 (PR799280, PR799316 and PR799473). ↗

Citation verified

26 Oct 2026

Operative note

Based on the current consolidated Award text incorporating amendments up to and including 1 July 2026. That consolidation date is not the commencement date of every provision; check the relevant variation and operative conditions when assessing an earlier period.