Last Wednesday before lunch, our new CFO (Chief Financial Officer) talked with me: “How many hours did you work last week?” “40 hours excluding lunch time.” “Why did you work extra hours?” “Did I ? I was asked to work 40 to 42 hours per week the time I’ve got a job interview, and no one ever questioned about that.” “That’s fine.” After lunch, I asked the CFO: “How many hours am I supposed to work each week?” “38 hours.” “That’s ok; I don’t mind to work fewer hours, and I can start from the day.” “If you work extra hours, please let me know.” “Sure.”I prefer to work fewer hours so that I can do the reading and writing in my free time, which is perfect. On the other hand, I don’t care if work extra 2 hours per week and get paid because my job was very busy last year, this year it’s getting better. I was wondering why they changed idea this year.The following day, I confirmed with our CEO who interviewed me: “I’ve been informed to work 38 hours a week from now on.” “That’s right; I am so sorry. We don’t mind if you work extra hours. However, your job agency charged us 1.5 times the ordinary rate over 38 hours, and double time over 40 hours, so we can only offer you to do 38 hours per week.” Now make sense, that’s how I noticed my current payslip a bit different from last year, I’ve got 1.5 times and double time paid for overtime hours. Anyway, that’s good news for an employee; the labour law protects us from overwork. If can’t finish daily tasks, the company might have to find someone from job market rather than expecting an experienced staff to do extra work, which creates more job opportunities for unemployed workers.I remembered when I did accounting in my previous company for seven years, and I have never done extra hours as we were not allowed to stay in the company after working hours. Even the first year, as a new employee with no local work experience, my speed was extremely slow, it took me two weeks to do one week work, there’s always a pile of paperwork in the pigeonhole. At five o’clock, our team leader reminded us: “Please go home, you are not supposed to work extra hours.” I was worried about the outstanding work; fortunately, one nice Aussie man helped me. And the other Aussie lady used to tell us: “Just do what you can, try your best, let’s see what happens.” If there’s no law protection, a new employee might have to do extra one or two hours, even more without getting paid.A few days ago, a friend who does the part-time job in a supermarket texted me: “My manager roster me to work all three public holidays over Easter, can’t complain, 22 hours at $55 (275CNY)per hour, so I am busy.” That’s the benefit to be an employee; everyone is supposed to have a break during public holidays, if you have to work, then double time and a half rate will be paid.Someone argued: “World doesn’t always work like that.” True. In Australia, if a business owner doesn’t care about the law or the employees don’t know how to protect themselves and are willing to do more hours without getting extra payment, then you don’t have to follow the law, but it is illegal. A business owner is at the risk of losing money or being bankruptcy if the company has been accused of underpaying staff and the business won’t grow bigger. As is always the case, my previous boss finally to be a lawyer after running a business for more than 20 years. There were too many employees took him to court for various reasons. While dealing with tough employees, the boss gained lots practical experience, eventually, passed courses for being a qualified lawyer and Australian business law becomes part of his life. Therefore, the law is influential in Australia.Moreover, there’s minimum wage for a new employee. In 2004, I got a job as a casual cleaner in Chisholm College. I worked 10 hours per week and was paid casual hourly rate at $14.76; apart from that, I worked extra hours during Uni break. With the money earned, I could afford to pay for accommodation AUD500 per month (it was pretty expensive at that time) and food AUD250 though I lived on a budget.I was so happy, that’s the first time I made money to support myself in Australia.If the minimum wage is too low, then we might have no motivation to find a job. That’s the way I love to be an employee in Australian companies because the law protects us no matter which country we originally come from, it provides the equal opportunities for everyone.You are most welcome join my subscription: Englishpassion