Oxymoronic or employer logic? Preferred hours under the Fair Work Act

Preferred hours clauses have featured in enterprise agreements covering retail, agricultural, fast food, hospitality and aged care workplaces. The employee elects to work different or additional hours to their ordinary work pattern, hours which would otherwise attract overtime or penalty rates, but is paid at the ordinary rate of pay. This article examines, through the lenses of flexibility and the safety net, preferred hours under the new Fair Work regime. It then makes recommendations designed to clarify the limited circumstances in which an individual flexibility arrangement can incorporate a preferred hours clause.