Does paid leave count towards ordinary hours when calculating overtime?

Many awards and enterprise agreements entitle employees to overtime payments for hours worked in excess of ordinary or rostered hours. What if an employee takes paid personal level or paid annual leave at a time when they would otherwise be performing work during ordinary hours? Can this employee claim overtime if they are then required or requested to work outside those ordinary hours?

Take for example a part time employee who is ordinarily rostered on Monday to Thursday shifts, but is sick from Monday to Wednesday and is called in on the Friday to work an additional shift. Does the employee receive overtime for that shift?

This issue was considered by Deputy President Sams of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) in a decision published on 29 May 2017 ([2017] FWC 2535). The question to be resolved was whether Jetstar ground crew employees were entitled to have periods of personal and other leave, which fall during a pay week or roster cycle, taken into account when