Enterprise agreement can make ‘no pay for no work’ provision

Courts recognise that the non-performance of work does not automatically mean an employee is not entitled to wages. An employee may, for example, be given a direction to remain at home and not perform any work at all yet still be entitled to the payment of wages.

This outcome may be reversed by the operation of a statutory industrial instrument such as an award or enterprise agreement. This was the case in Singhal v Reserve Bank of Australia (2026), in which the Fair Work Commission (FWC) had to resolve whether an employee who did not work for 6 months was entitled to wages under the applicable enterprise agreement. The employee was not on authorised leave during these work absences.

The applicable enterprise agreement provided that “salary will be paid on a fortnightly basis in arrears for the period Friday to Thursday week inclusive according to the average number of ordinary hours worked each fortnight”.

The FWC ruled the provision did not entitle the employee to the payment of wages when work is not performed. The provision was for fortnightly payment in arrears – that is, in relation to a period in which it is possible to know what work had actually been performed – according to the average number of ordinary hours worked each fortnight. Therefore, actual performance of work is required before payment of wages is required.

Elsewhere the agreement provided that leave without pay may be granted where paid personal leave is exhausted, and that additional paid personal leave beyond accrued entitlements may be considered in particular cases of absences by reason of personal illness. These clauses provided further context justifying an interpretation that payment of wages was conditional on the performance of work.

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