The article provides guidelines about when to use the different work types and tags included as part of the pre-built Security Services Industry Award 2020 [MA000016] package. For further information about this industry award, refer to Security Services Industry 2020.
Key updates
Select the current financial year tab to see award updates for the 2025/26 financial year, while all previous updates before this time you can find in the historical financial years tab.
13th
We have introduced a new suite of configurations for Salaried Employment Agreements to allow the employers to manage the salaried employees, who are under Individual flexibility arrangements, directly within the award instead of having to remove them.
This introduction, which is an enhancement rather than a legislative update requirement, includes the items below if they do not already exist within an award:
- Pay Categories (Salary and Salary - Public Holiday Not Worked).
- Leave Allowance Templates for “No loading” and “With loading”.
- Rule Set to disregard timesheets.
- Pay Rate Templates.
- Employment Agreements for all employee types (full-time, part-time, and casual).
For detailed information on the changes, please refer to our guide here.
We have also renamed all leave allowance templates by adding the award code as a prefix. This ensures each template can be accurately associated with its respective award, particularly in cases where template names are identical.
1st
We have updated the award to reflect the Fair Work Commission's National Minimum Wage increase detailed in the Annual Wage Review 2024-25 decision and also includes updates to expense-related allowances. You can find more information on the Determinations here and here.
These changes come into effect from the first full pay period on or after the 1st July 2025. Please install these updates after you have finalised your last pay run before the first full pay period beginning on or after the 1st July 2025.
4th
Broken Shift Allowance
Clause 17.4 states that "an employee who is required to work a rostered shift in 2 periods of duty (excluding rest breaks) must pay the employee a broken shift allowance per rostered shift".
The clause does not state that the broken shift needs to be all worked on the same day, or that the broken shift allowance is only paid where the broken shift is all within one day.
As a result, we have updated the Broken shift allowance rule by removing the “Shift is NOT the first of the day” condition, such that broken shift allowance will be paid even if the second period of duty falls on the next day.
Minimum break between shifts
Clause 14.4(a) states that "an employee must have a minimum break of 8 hours between finishing work on one shift of ordinary hours (including any overtime worked immediately after it) and starting work on the next shift of ordinary hours (including any overtime worked immediately before it)".
The clause, or elsewhere, does not state that the minimum break between shifts only applies where the shifts are on successive days. As a result, we have update the Minimum 8-Hour Break Between Shifts rule to be excluded if shifts worked are identified as broken shifts.
17th
We have renamed the Overtime 200% pay categories to simplify reporting under the 'Less than 8 hours' pay conditions:
- Permanent - Overtime - Less than 8-hour break between shifts
- Casual - Overtime - Less than 8-hour break between shifts
We also updated the rules for 'Minimum 8-Hour Break Between Shifts (FT/PT)' and 'Minimum 8-Hour Break Between Shifts (Cas)' by removing the condition of the '1st shift of the day' to comply with clause 14.4."
9th
We have implemented new rules regarding overtime for shifts with less than an 8-hour break as per clause 14.4(d) and introduced new pay categories "Permanent - Overtime 200% and Casual - Overtime 225%".
1st
We have updated the award to reflect the Fair Work Commission's National Minimum Wage increase detailed in the Annual Wage Review 2023-24 decision and also includes updates to expense-related allowances. You can find more information on the Determinations here and here.
These changes come into effect from the first full pay period on or after the 1st July 2024. Please install these updates after you have finalised your last pay run before the first full pay period beginning on or after the 1st July 2024.
We have also updated the "Community Service Leave Taken" pay category, where it does not accrue super.
15th
We have removed the casual loading from the following pay categories to ensure alignment with the pay rates listed on the FWO pay guide:
- Casual - Overtime - Monday to Saturday - after 2 hours
- Casual - Overtime - Monday to Saturday - first 2 hours
- Casual - Overtime - Public Holiday
- Casual - Overtime - Sunday
We have also updated the Minimum 8 Hour Break Between Shifts rule to ensure employees receive the correct rate of pay for work on Public Holidays.
23rd
We have updated the rule set for Security Services Employees to exclude the tag "Agreed 12 hours of Ordinary Work" from the Maximum Daily Engagement rule in 13.3(b).
1st
From 1 August, all employees are entitled to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave each year. The (Unpaid) Family and Domestic Violence Leave configuration settings under awards have been updated - the leave category is disabled from award leave allowance templates, and the work type is not enabled automatically for all employees. Please ensure that employees no longer use the unpaid leave category or work type.
1st
We have updated the award to reflect the Fair Work Commission’s National Minimum Wage increase detailed in the Annual Wage Review 2022-23 decision and also includes updates to expense-related allowances. You can find information on the Determinations here and here.
These changes come into effect from the first full pay period on or after the 1st July 2023. Please install these updates after you have finalised your last pay run before the first full pay period beginning on or after the 1st July 2023. We have also updated the Time in Lieu Leave category to make sure it pays at a base rate.
17th
We have updated the Security Services Employees rule set to correct the 20.2(b) Public Holiday (Cas) rule to Casual Employment Type.
31st
We have updated the award to reflect changes made as part of the Fair Work Decision regarding Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave. Further information on what changes have been applied to the platform and what you should be aware of can be found within this article.
We have created the following new categories:
- New Leave Category: Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave.
- New Pay Category: Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave.
- New Work Type: Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave taken.
We have updated the Leave Allowance Templates to disable the existing unpaid Family and Domestic Violence and we have enabled the new Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave. We also updated any impacted rule conditions.
As part of Fair Work's ruling, an employee must be paid their full pay rate; this includes their base rate plus any incentive-based payments and bonuses, loadings, monetary allowances, overtime or penalty rates, and any other separately identifiable amount.
We have updated the rule set, Security Services Employees to correct the 20.2(b) Saturday (Cas) rule to use the Casual - Saturday pay category.
Installing the pre-built award package
To read details on how to install and configure this Pre-built Award Template, please review the following article. Before relying on the award information, users should carefully evaluate its accuracy, currency, completeness, and relevance for their purposes. You should also obtain appropriate professional advice.
Coverage
This industry award covers employers throughout Australia in the security services industry and their employees in the classifications listed in Schedule A—Classification Definitions to the exclusion of any other modern award. For further details please see clause four of the award.
Work types
Work types are a description of the kind of shift you are working, and you would select them when you record a timesheet. The following is a list of work types employees can select on their timesheet, and the meaning of each item.
Choose this work type when annual leave is taken.
Choose this work type when an employee is required to return to work for any other purpose.
Choose this work type when compassionate leave is taken.
Choose this work type when family and domestic violence leave is taken.
Choose this work type when an employee is required to carry a firearm on their shift.
Choose this work type when unpaid leave is taken.
Choose this work type when long service leave is taken.
Choose this work type when an employee is required to work more than 1 hour after completion of their ordinary shift without being notified on the previous day. One unit per meal.
Choose this work type when community service leave is taken.
Choose this work type when personal or carer's leave is taken and the business accrues the leave in hours.
Choose this work type when an employee is not required to work on a gazetted public holiday but otherwise would have worked on this day.
Choose this work type when time in lieu is taken.
Choose this work type when the employee elects to accrue time in lieu rather than an overtime payment.
Choose this work type when unpaid pandemic leave is taken.
Choose this work type where an employer requests an employee to use their own motor vehicle to perform work duties. The kilometres travelled should be entered into the ‘units’ field i.e. 1 (one) unit is equivalent to 1 (one) kilometre.
Choose this work type where an employer requests an employee to use their own motorcycle to perform work duties. The kilometres travelled should be entered into the ‘units’ field i.e. 1 (one) unit is equivalent to 1 (one) kilometre.
Shift conditions
Shift Conditions are further details you can add to a shift where more than one condition applies to your shift. Shift conditions are selected when you edit a timesheet record, or when clocking on using the ClockMeIn Time and Attendance or WorkZone apps. The following is a list of Shift Conditions employees can select on their timesheet, and the meaning of each item.
Select this shift condition if by agreement between employee and employer, an employee can work 12 ordinary hours in a shift.
Tags
Employee Tags are specific conditions typically related to the employee’s agreement. These are often conditions negotiated and agreed between the employer and the employee, or unique characteristics of the employee’s role. Payment of these provisions is usually of a recurring and ongoing nature.
Assign this tag if by agreement between employee and employer, an employee can work 12 ordinary hours in a shift.