Special pay rates apply to employees performing work on non‑successive shifts.

Workplaces as a whole can set a pattern of shifts that can be successive or non-successive. An individual employee’s work pattern doesn’t impact whether the shifts are successive.

A non-successive shift is defined differently for:

• general manufacturing employees
• vehicle manufacturing employees.

To calculate pay rates for shifts, use our Pay and Conditions Tool.

General manufacturing employees

For general manufacturing employees, non‑successive shifts are shifts the workplace doesn’t run for:

• at least 38 ordinary hours, if the shifts are longer than 8 ordinary hours, or
• if the shifts aren't longer than 8 ordinary hours:
  • at least 5 days in a row in a workshop that operates 5 days a week, or
  • at least 6 days in a row in a workshop that operates more than 5 days a week.

Vehicle manufacturing employees

Continuous shiftwork

For vehicle manufacturing employees working continuous work shifts, there’s no special rate for non‑successive shifts.

Continuous work shifts means work done on consecutive shifts throughout the 24 hours of at least 5 consecutive days without interruption.

Non-continuous shiftwork

For vehicle manufacturing employees working non‑continuous shifts, non‑successive shifts are shifts the workplace doesn’t run for at least:

• 5 days in a row in a workshop that operates 5 days a week
• 6 days in a row in a workshop that operates more than 5 days a week, or
• 38 ordinary hours.

Example: Successive shifts

Dragan is a part time shift worker in a motorcycle manufacturing plant. The plant has an afternoon shift that runs Monday to Friday.

Dragan works Tuesdays and Thursdays. He gets paid the afternoon shift rate for his shifts.

Even though Dragan only works two afternoon shifts each week, the workplace runs the shift five days a week. This means Dragan doesn’t work non-successive shifts.

Example: Non‑successive shifts

Josie is a full time shift worker in a factory that manufactures medical equipment. The factory has a big order due on Thursday so they decide to run a night shift as well as their usual afternoon shifts on Monday and Tuesday.

Because the workplace only runs the night shift for two days, the night shift is a non-successive shift.

Josie works 5 shifts that week, 2 night shifts and 3 afternoon shifts. She gets paid the non‑successive shift rate for each of the night shifts she works. She gets paid the afternoon shift rate for the afternoon shifts that she works.