Legal Services Award [MA000116]: Employment types, rostering, and breaks

The Legal Services Award [MA000116] outlines the rules for how to hire, pay, and roster people in the legal services industry. The award is long, technical, and very easy to misread. But, if you have employees that fall under this award, you need to get it right.

This guide pulls the most important parts into one place and explains them in an easy-to-understand way. You'll discover everything from what you're responsible for to where compliance can often go off track.

Legal Services Award employment types

Under the Legal Services Award, there are several ways you can hire people. Each employment type has different rules for working hours and employee benefits.

• Full-time employees: Full-time staff work 38 ordinary hours of work a week on an ongoing contract. They have access to the full range of entitlements, like paid annual leave, penalties, and overtime.

• Part-time employees: Part-timers work less than 38 hours a week on a regular, predictable pattern that you both agree on in writing when they start. They get entitlements on a pro rata basis.

• Casual employees: Casuals work on an as-needed basis with no guaranteed hours. They don't get paid leave, but they receive a 25% higher minimum hourly rate (casual loading).

• On-hire employees: Agency staff can also come under the award. Their conditions must be the same as those of your direct employees in comparable roles.

Ordinary hours under the Legal Services Award

The Legal Services Award explains when staff can work ordinary hours and how you must structure those hours. Unlike several other modern awards, it doesn’t impose a strict daily maximum number of hours. Instead, it focuses on a 38-hour week (or an averaged period) and on keeping work inside the award’s span of ordinary hours.

Span of hours: Employees must work their ordinary hours between 7:00 a.m. and 6:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. Anything outside this span is overtime (unless you have already made a mutual agreement for other times).

Full-time employees

• Work 38 ordinary hours per week.

• Any time worked outside the 7:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. window or beyond 38 hours in a week, counts as overtime.

Part-time employees

• Work less than 38 hours per week.

• Must have a written, agreed pattern of hours that states their days and start and finish times.

• Minimum shift length is three hours.

• Any hours worked outside the 7:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. span or agreed work pattern become overtime.

Casual employees

• Can work up to 38 hours per week (or averaged over your roster cycle).

• Minimum shift length is four hours.

• Any time worked outside the 7:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. window or beyond 38 hours in a week, counts as overtime.

Shiftworkers

The Legal Services Award doesn’t define a separate 'shiftworker' classification. But work done by regular employees:

• in an early morning shift

• in an afternoon or night shift

• on weekend, or

• on a public holiday

...attracts the penalty rates listed in the award. Overtime rates apply as well if the work also:

• goes over a full-time or casual’s 38-hour weekly limit

• falls outside a part-time employee’s agreed pattern, or

• is worked outside the 7:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday to Friday spread

On-hire employees

Follow the same ordinary-hours, overtime, and minimum-engagement rules as the classification you engage them under (full-time, part-time, or casual).

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11 Legal Services Award rostering rules

Legal Services Award rostering requirements are detailed and more than many employers realise. There are also National Employment Standards (NES) and Fair Work Act rostering obligations to factor in. You can find them, categorised, below:

Rules set by the award

These rules come directly from the award and aren't optional:

1. Ordinary hours must follow the award’s weekly and 28-day limits

For full-time day workers, ordinary hours:

• must average 38 hours per week, and

• can't exceed 152 hours in 28 days

You can arrange these hours in any pattern you like. They must just stay within the award’s span of hours and overtime rules.

2. Employees must work ordinary hours within the award’s span

For day workers, you must roster ordinary hours:

• in one continuous block (apart from meal breaks), and

• between 7.00 a.m. and 6.30 p.m., Monday to Friday

You can adjust this span by up to one hour at either end if most affected employees agree.

Any work outside this spread counts as overtime. This is except for the limited 'workplace readiness' exception below.

3. ‘Workplace readiness’ time can count as ordinary hours

If an employee starts before the outlined span of hours and their work:

• is continuous with their ordinary hours, and

• is genuinely to prepare the workplace for others

…it can count toward the 38 ordinary hours instead of triggering overtime. This only applies to preparation work that runs directly into the employee’s normal shift.

4. You can set up rostered days off (RDOs) by agreement

The award enables you and your employees to create RDO arrangements. Any RDO system must have strict rules for:

• how the employee accrues time toward RDOs, and

• how they accumulate and take those RDOs.

There's no prescribed method. The arrangement just needs to be clear and mutually agreed.

5. Shift rosters have strict rules

The award separates two types of shift patterns: continuous and non-continuous.

Continuous shiftwork

• operates 24 hours per day for at least six days in a row

• ordinary hours average 38 per week (including meal breaks)

• mustn't exceed 152 hours in 28 consecutive days

• each shift includes a 12-minute paid meal break

Non-continuous shiftwork:

• also averages 38 hours per week

• can't go over 152 hours in 28 days

• works ordinary hours continuously (except for meal breaks)

Additional shiftwork rules:

• If most of your employees agree, you can average the 38 hours over a period of up to 12 months.

• You mustn't roster employees for more than one shift in a 24-hour period. This is unless the employee is transitioning to the next shift at the regular handover point in your shift cycle.

6. You must arrange ordinary hours by agreement

The Legal Services Award lets you set your employees' start and finish times. But you need to arrange the overall structure of ordinary hours through agreement. This might be for things like early-finish arrangements, alternating rosters, or shift patterns.

You can do this either:

• with a majority of employees, or

• individually with one employee.

This rule applies to all employees under the award. Part-time employees will need individual written agreements if their personal work pattern changes, though.

7. You must consult employees before changing their regular roster or ordinary hours

If you plan to change an employee’s regular hours you need to talk to them first. This might include changing their usual days, start and finish times, or any part of their established ordinary-hours pattern, for example.

You must:

• tell the employee what you’re proposing

• explain when you'd like the change to start from

• ask for their thoughts about it

• genuinely take their feedback on board before making a final decision

This rule only applies to employees with regular hours. It doesn’t cover employees with sporadic or unpredictable schedules. For example, casuals who don’t follow a set pattern.

8. Rosters operate in fortnightly periods (with 14 days’ notice)

If you use rosters in your workplace, you need to create them in fortnightly blocks. You must also give employees 14 days’ notice of each roster.

You can still change a roster inside that 14-day window if you genuinely need to, as long as you:

• talk to the employees affected

• explain what you're changing and why

• give them as much notice as you reasonably can

There's no strict minimum notice period for changes. The award just expects you to consult with your team and give them as much notice as you reasonably can.

9. Employees can use make-up time (if both sides agree)

Your Legal Services Award employees can take time off during their ordinary hours, then 'make up' those hours later on.

• For day workers: They must work make-up hours within the award’s span.

• For shiftworkers: Pay the make-up hours at the rate that would've applied to the hours they took off. This stops shifts with lower rates from replacing ones with higher rates.

You can't force employees to use make-up time. It must be voluntary and by agreement.

Rules set by the NES and Fair Work Act

These rules aren't part of the Legal Services Award, but apply to all legal services industry employers.

10. Employees can ask for flexible working arrangements

Eligible employees have the right to ask for flexible work. For example:

• parents of school-aged or younger children

• carers

• employees with disabilities

• employees 55 or older

• employees experiencing family or domestic violence

• employees who support someone experiencing family or domestic violence

They may ask for things like altered hours, different start and finish times, hybrid work, or changes to their pattern of work.

If an employee makes a request like this, you need to:

• discuss it with them

• genuinely consider it

• provide written reasons if you refuse (which can only be on reasonable business grounds)

11. The Right to Disconnect now applies

Employees now have the legal right to ignore work contact outside their working hours. This can include contact like calls, texts, emails, and messages. The only time they can't legally ignore it is if it would be unreasonable in the circumstances. For example:

• the employee is being paid standing by time for that period

• the contact relates to a lawful recall to work

• the employee’s role genuinely requires them to be responsive after-hours (e.g., urgent legal matters, client emergencies)

• there's a serious health, safety, or legal obligation to respond to

Outside these situations, though? Employees can disconnect without consequences. This rule now applies to all employers, including small businesses, as of 26 August 2025.

Legal Services Award breaks and rest periods

The Legal Services Award explains exactly when employees must take rest breaks and when meal breaks become mandatory. It also outlines how these breaks work with ordinary hours and overtime.

Paid rest breaks

• Employees can take two paid 10-minute rest breaks each day.

• You can choose when these breaks take place based on the reasonable needs of the practice.

• The first rest break typically happens before the meal break. The second comes after it.

• If an employee works over four hours before noon on a Saturday, they get an extra 10-minute paid rest break.

• Rest breaks count as time worked.

Unpaid meal breaks

• An employee must take a 30 to 60 minute meal break no later than five hours after starting work (or five hours after their last meal break).

• If the employee continues working for another 5 hours after that, they must take a second meal break of 30 to 60 minutes.

• Meal breaks don’t count toward hours worked.

Breaks during overtime

When an employee works overtime, the award has a different set of break rules:

• After more than two hours of overtime, the employee gets a paid 20-minute rest break. You pay this at the overtime rate.

• If overtime is more than four hours, they get another paid 20-minute rest break at the overtime rate.

• These overtime breaks are on top of any ordinary meal breaks. They don't get deducted from pay.

Ordinary hours must remain continuous (with only rest and meal breaks allowed inside the shift).

7 ways to keep your legal services roster under control

Rostering in a legal practice isn’t the same beast as in hospitality or fast food. You don't have to deal with the lunch-rush chaos or constant shift swaps. But you get your own version of chaos. For example, last-minute urgencies, client escalations, and court deadlines changing without warning.

The Legal Services Award comes with strict hour limits, span-of-hours rules, break requirements, and written patterns you can’t just jiggle when things get busy. A good roster keeps you compliant and helps keep your team sane.

Here are some easy, practical ways to make things run smoother:

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A practical example of Legal Service Award rostering

Priya manages a mid-sized legal practice. During a month crammed with urgent filings, trial deadlines, and back-to-back client work, the pressure ramps up. Staff end up staying later than usual and part-timers shift their hours around to help out.

In the scramble, Priya unintentionally violates several Legal Services Award rules. Here’s what happened, and how she fixed it:

What went wrong

1. Part-timers drifted outside their agreed patterns

To get through the busy period, Priya let part-time employees start earlier, finish later, and swap days. She didn't record any of this in writing before the shifts happened, though. This meant their rostered hours no longer matched their agreed pattern in their employment contract. Essentially, those extra hours should have been treated as overtime in that case, not ordinary hours.

2. Regular rosters changed without proper consultation

When deadlines moved, Priya tweaked shifts at pretty short notice. And she didn’t consult staff properly before changing their regular hours. Even if everyone was happy to help, the award still expected Priya to formally check in with them first and hear their thoughts before making the change.

3. Breaks slipped past the five-hour limit

During filing days, employees often pushed through without stepping away from their desks. A few meal breaks happened too late, and some rest breaks didn't happen at all. This breached rules on rest breaks and mandatory meal breaks before the five-hour mark.

How Priya fixed it

1. Updated every part-timer’s pattern and kept it current

Priya reviewed each part-time employee’s written pattern, including their days, start and finish times, and minimum hours. Any time a part-time employee needed to vary their pattern, she made sure they agreed to the change before the shift and captured the confirmation in writing. This stopped unintentional overtime and kept compliance tight.

2. Set up a simple consultation process for roster changes

Now, whenever a roster needs adjusting, Priya follows a quick and easy, but compliant process:

• tell the employee what she’s proposing

• explain when it starts

• check how it affects them (including caring responsibilities)

• listen to their feedback and take it on board

3. Used digital tools to protect breaks and the span of hours

Priya introduced HR software with a built-in scheduling tool that tracks the Legal Services Award rules. The system highlights risks early, like late meal breaks or shifts sneaking outside the span of hours. So, nothing gets overlooked, even on the busiest of days.

A smarter way to run legal services rosters, payroll, and everything in between

Running a legal team is far easier when everything you need is easily accessible in one place. That’s where Rippling's all-in-one workforce management software comes in. It connects HR, payroll, time tracking, scheduling, and even IT into a single system. This means you don't have to go from one tool to the other, fixing the same problem.

Any time you adjust someone’s hours or update a part-time employee's pattern, Rippling updates everything behind the scenes automatically. The roster changes, their timesheet updates to reflect the new expected shift, and the right pay rules kick in.

Rippling also understands the Legal Services Award. This means it can spot the award's nuances that usually trip people up. If something looks off, you can count on Rippling to point it out before it becomes a problem.

It also connects your roster directly to payroll. So, the hours you approve are the hours that get paid. And with penalties, loadings, overtime, and allowances all taken care of in the background, too!

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