full time employees must not be requested or required to work more than 38 hours per week, unless the request to work additional hours is reasonable (section 62(1)(a), FW Act); and
part time employees must not be requested or required to work more than the lesser of 38 hours per week and the employee's ordinary hours of work, unless the request to work additional hours is reasonable (section 62(1)(b), FW Act).
Providing employees with a statutory right to refuse to work additional hours above their maximum weekly hours where the requirement is unreasonable (section 62(2), FW Act).
Central to the maximum weekly hours standard is the assessment of when additional hours requested or required to be worked by an employer are reasonable additional hours. The maximum weekly hours standard also provides a mechanism for the averaging of weekly hours for award/agreement free employees over a specified period to facilitate patterns of work, such as roster patterns, where weekly hours may change over a defined period. It provides that, subject to a requirement of reasonableness, modern awards and enterprise agreements can provide for averaging of hours of work (Division 3, Part 2-2, FW Act).
For more information on maximum weekly hours, see: