Queensland Health Overtime Rates for Medical Officers

When Does Overtime Apply?

Under the MOCA 5 agreement, overtime applies when a medical officer works beyond their ordinary rostered hours. For full-time medical officers, ordinary hours are typically 38 per week (or an average of 38 hours over a roster cycle). Any time worked beyond these ordinary hours — including unrostered callbacks, extended shifts, and additional duties — is classified as overtime.

Key triggers for overtime include:

• Hours worked beyond the ordinary span of duty for your roster
• Unrostered recalls and callbacks outside normal working hours
• Work performed on rostered days off (RDOs)
• Shift extensions beyond rostered finish times

Overtime Rate Structure

Queensland Health overtime rates for medical officers are calculated as multiples of your base hourly rate, which varies by classification level (L1 through L13). The multiplier depends on when the overtime is worked:

Classification Levels Explained

Queensland Health medical officers are classified from Level 1 (L1) through Level 13 (L13). Your classification determines your base salary and therefore your base hourly rate for overtime calculations:

• L1–L2: Intern / Junior House Officer (PGY1–PGY2)
• L3–L5: Senior House Officer (PGY3–PGY5)
• L6–L9: Registrar
• L10–L13: Senior Registrar / Principal House Officer

Your base hourly rate is derived from your annual salary divided by the standard annual ordinary hours. This rate is then multiplied by the relevant overtime penalty rate to calculate your overtime payment for each shift.

Common Payroll Discrepancies

Payroll errors with overtime are more common than most doctors realise. The most frequent issues include:

• Overtime paid at the wrong classification level after a recent increment
• Weekday overtime incorrectly paid at time-and-a-half for all hours instead of transitioning to double time after 3 hours
• Public holiday overtime paid at double time instead of double-time-and-a-half
• Callbacks not recorded or paid as overtime at all
• AVAC form entries not matching what appears on the payslip

How to Verify Your Overtime Pay

Manually checking your overtime against award rates is time-consuming and error-prone. CheckPay automates this by cross-referencing your payslip against your AVAC forms and current award rates — identifying any discrepancies in under 60 seconds.