I'm a contractor, and prefer to remain so, after a brief stint as a permanent, ten years back, with an employer that just expected its staff to pull all-nighters and weekends with no notice, no overtime pay and no time in lieu.

I prefer to work hourly rates, so that the moment I am asked to work overtime, I can just start charging for it. Unfortunately it's been a long time since I saw a contract here in Australia on anything other than a daily rate - so now, if I ever have to work overtime in a day, then I just make that up by working fewer hours the next. And then if asked to work weekends, then I charge per day for that, too.

I've never accepted the argument that because "professionals" get paid more that we're handing a blank cheque to employers to make us work as long as they like without extra pay. Doing so just reduces our effective hourly rate, in the long term.

TBH, I don't actually know how the law in Australia works regarding this, but it seems that employers can get away with not paying for overtime, if they want.