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HR Glossary

National Employment
Standards (NES)

Australia · Fair Work and entitlements
What are the National Employment Standards?

The National Employment Standards (NES) are the minimum employment entitlements in the Fair Work Act that apply to all national system employees in Australia, covering hours, leave, notice, redundancy and superannuation. No award, agreement or contract can provide less.

Key NES minimums

Maximum weekly hours38, plus reasonable additional hours
Annual leave4 weeks paid per year (5 for some shift workers)
Personal/carer's leave10 days paid per year
Family and domestic violence leave10 days paid per year
Notice and redundancyScales with service (see the notice period and redundancy pay terms)
SuperannuationAn NES entitlement since 1 January 2024

What do the NES cover?

The NES set the entitlement floor for every national system employee: maximum weekly hours, requests for flexible working arrangements, parental leave, annual leave, personal and carer's leave, compassionate leave, family and domestic violence leave, community service leave, long service leave (as a transitional entitlement), public holidays, notice of termination and redundancy pay, superannuation, and the Fair Work Information Statement. Casual employees receive a subset, balanced by casual loading and the conversion pathway.

Who do the NES apply to?

All employees in the national workplace relations system, which covers the large majority of Australian employment. They apply regardless of award coverage, salary level or contract wording. An executive on $400,000 has the same NES annual leave entitlement as a graduate, and a contract term that tries to sit below the NES is simply unenforceable.

How do the NES interact with awards and agreements?

Think of it as layers. The NES are the floor, the applicable modern award or enterprise agreement builds on top of it, and the employment contract can only add from there. When instruments conflict, the employee gets the more beneficial entitlement.

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Modern award

A modern award is a legal document that sets minimum pay rates and employment conditions for an industry or occupation in Australia, sitting on top of the National Employment Standards.

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Notice period

A notice period is the time between telling an employee (or employer) that employment will end and the final day of work.

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Redundancy pay

Redundancy pay is the severance payment Australia's National Employment Standards require when an employee's job is made genuinely redundant, scaled from 4 up to 16 weeks' base pay by years of continuous service.

Read the definition →Related term

Long service leave

Long service leave (LSL) is paid leave earned after an extended period of continuous service with one employer, typically around two months of leave after ten years.

Read the definition →HR Glossary

All terms

Every definition, with the local rules, rates and thresholds attached.

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Common questions

Do the NES apply to casual employees?

Partly. Casuals get entitlements such as unpaid carer's leave, compassionate leave and the casual conversion pathway, but not paid annual or personal leave, and generally not notice or redundancy pay. Casual loading exists to offset that difference.

Can an employee agree to waive an NES entitlement?

No. The NES cannot be contracted out of or traded away, even with the employee's written agreement.

This page is general information, not legal advice. We check figures annually and update them on a best-efforts basis, but employment rules change and we cannot promise everything here is current or complete. Before you act on it, confirm the detail with the Fair Work Ombudsman (fairwork.gov.au) or your own adviser. Last reviewed July 2026.