Each week, Dr Kirstin Ferguson tackles questions on workplace, career and leadership in her advice column, “ Got a Minute? ” This week: fatigue after working overnight, a promised promotion that never came and cleaning up. A modern award should include protections around the maximum weekly hours you can work. Credit: Dionne Gain I work during the day, then I am on call at night, every night, five nights in a row.
If I’m called out during the night, I can be out for two to five hours on average before I return home and am entitled to take a 10-hour break. Some weeks, I may go out every night; others, I may go once or twice. My company says it’s up to us to manage our fatigue, but the job description states we need to be on call overnight.
My concern is, if I’m called out with less than five hours of sleep and have an accident, am I protected by industrial laws? Loading Please don’t wait until you have an accident to find out if you are protected by industrial laws. You should have this conversation with your employer straight away and if you belong to a union, you can also speak with them. I asked an expert, Sarah Queenan, the managing director of Humanify HR, what she recommended.
Assuming you are on a modern award, which includes protections around the maximum weekly hours you can work, Queenan recommends you talk to your employer so they can consider alternate options for rostering your shifts to reduce the impact of fatigue. As Queenan says, prevention is alway.