Under the National Employment Standards (NES), an employee who usually works on Monday must be asked if they are willing to work on the public holiday (if the pharmacy is to open on the day).
If you want employees to work, then you must specifically ask them to do so, even if the public holiday falls on their usual working day.
The request to work and each employee’s reply must be “in writing”, which includes paper, email, text and any electronic format that can be printed; and you must keep a record of that agreement.
An employee who usually works on the day a public holiday occurs is entitled to refuse the request by the employer to work if the refusal is reasonable.
In the ordinary course of business, rosters allocating what times/days part-time employees work their agreed number of hours can be changed with 7 days’ - or in an emergency 48 hours’ - written notice to the employee, but you cannot change the number of hours worked without mutual agreement.
Nor can a change be made to avoid an award entitlement, such as removing an employee from the roster on the public holiday to avoid having to pay the penalty rate.
If an employee does not work, they are paid their base rate of pay for their ordinary hours of work on the day. Employees who work on the day must be paid at the public holiday penalty rate, which is 225% (250% for casuals) of the base rate under the Pharmacy Industry Award 2020 (PIA).
Annualised salary employees who work are entitled to the equivalent time-off (or other arrangements in accordance with their agreement).
If you open the pharmacy for reduced hours on the public holiday and an employee who usually works that day works the reduced hours, then they must be paid the public holiday rate for the hours actually worked, and their ordinary base pay for the usual rostered hours that are not worked on the public holiday.
Under the PIA (Clause 28.3), an employer and an employee can agree to substitute another day for the public holiday if they wish. In such a case, the employee works, is paid the usual salary, and gets a day off in lieu at a later time.
Please note: different arrangements and penalty loadings apply for pharmacy employees in the WA state industrial relations system, pharmacies should contact the WA Branch or visit the State specific information here.
PGA's members are also encouraged to update their Public Holiday Trading Hours via myGuild.
If you have any questions or need advice or assistance, please contact the Guild’s Workplace Relations advisors to discuss your situation.
