Mia JonesThe Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 (MA000020) is one of Australia's most significant modern awards, setting legally enforceable minimum pay rates and employment conditions for hundreds of thousands of workers in the building, construction, and civil engineering industries. Whether you're a carpenter, bricklayer, concreter, scaffolder, steel fixer, labourer, painter, or plant operator working on a construction site, this award most likely governs your minimum entitlements. Understanding these rights — from your classification level and hourly rate to redundancy pay, annual leave loading, and superannuation — is essential to knowing you're being paid correctly and fairly.
This guide explains the key provisions of the Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 in plain Australian English, using the current 2025-26 pay rates effective from 1 July 2025. Use the free calculator below to estimate your take-home pay, redundancy entitlement, annual leave value, notice period, and long service leave based on your individual situation.
Pay Structure and Classification Levels
The award classifies construction workers across eight levels (CW/ECW 1 through ECW 9), reflecting skill, trade qualifications, and experience. These rates include the industry allowance, which is built into the base rate for general building, civil, and metal and engineering construction work.
Effective from the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2025 (following the Fair Work Commission's 3.5% Annual Wage Review):
| Classification | Weekly Rate (AUD) | Hourly Rate (AUD) |
|---|---|---|
| CW/ECW 1a — new entrant (0–3 months) | $967.50 | $25.46 |
| CW/ECW 1b — 3 to 12 months | $986.60 | $25.96 |
| CW/ECW 1c — 12+ months (not yet CW1d) | $999.80 | $26.31 |
| CW/ECW 1d — substantive requirements met | $1,017.70 | $26.78 |
| CW/ECW 2 | $1,038.20 | $27.32 |
| CW/ECW 3 — standard/benchmark rate | $1,068.40 | $28.12 |
| CW/ECW 4 | $1,102.10 | $29.00 |
| CW/ECW 5 | $1,135.70 | $29.89 |
| CW/ECW 6 | $1,165.90 | $30.68 |
| CW/ECW 7 | $1,199.30 | $31.56 |
| CW/ECW 8 | $1,228.40 | $32.33 |
| ECW 9 | $1,250.10 | $32.90 |
CW3 is the "standard rate" — used as the reference point for calculating allowances throughout the award. The industry allowance of AUD $59.70 per week (or AUD $1.57 per hour) is already incorporated into these figures for general building, civil, and metal and engineering construction. For residential construction, a lower industry allowance of AUD $47.76 per week applies.
Apprentices are paid as a percentage of the CW3 standard rate, starting from 50% in the first year and progressing through the apprenticeship.
Working Hours, Overtime, and Penalty Rates
Ordinary hours are 38 per week under the Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020. Hours worked beyond ordinary time attract overtime rates, as do work performed on weekends and public holidays.
Overtime (Monday–Friday)
- First 2 hours of overtime: 150% of ordinary rate (full-time/part-time); 175% (casual)
- After 2 hours: 200% (full-time/part-time); 225% (casual)
Weekend and Public Holiday Penalty Rates
| Day | Full-time / Part-time | Casual |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday — first 2 hours | 150% | 175% |
| Saturday — after 2 hours or after noon | 200% | 225% |
| Sunday | 200% | 225% |
| Public holiday | 250% | 275% |
Minimum engagement periods apply on penalty days: 3 hours on Saturdays and 4 hours on Sundays and public holidays.
Casual loading is 25% above the ordinary rate, in line with the NES (Fair Work Act 2009 s.67B). This loading compensates casual employees for the absence of paid leave and notice entitlements.
Key Industry Allowances
Beyond the base classification rate, the award provides several additional allowances commonly applicable in the construction sector:
- Fares and travel allowance: AUD $21.94 per day (for employees travelling to and from site)
- Meal allowance: approximately AUD $19.23 per meal (payable when working 1.5+ hours overtime; updated July 2025)
- Tool allowance: approximately AUD $38.60 per week for carpenters, joiners, stonemasons, and tilelayers who supply their own tools
- Multi-storey and height allowances: graduated percentage loadings for work on buildings of 5+ storeys or structures exceeding 15 metres
- Confined spaces allowance: applicable in confined space work
- Distant work / living away from home: AUD $100.22 per day when working at a site too distant for employees to return home each night
Annual Leave
Under the Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020, full-time and part-time weekly-hire employees are entitled to 4 weeks (20 days) of paid annual leave per year — the NES minimum under Fair Work Act 2009 s.87. Seven-day continuous shiftworkers are entitled to 5 weeks.
Annual leave accrues progressively throughout the year at approximately 2.92 hours per week for full-time employees working 38 ordinary hours.
Annual leave loading under this award is 17.5% of the employee's ordinary rate — or the relevant weekend/shift penalty rates they would otherwise have received, whichever is higher. This means construction workers often receive more than the flat 17.5% if their ordinary roster includes regular weekend work.
For daily hire employees (common in the construction industry), the annual leave loading component is built into a factor (52/50.4) applied to the ordinary rate, rather than being paid separately when leave is taken.
Part-time employees accrue leave on a pro-rata basis proportional to their contracted hours.
Notice Period
The notice obligations under this award depend on whether you are employed on a daily hire or weekly hire basis — an important distinction specific to the construction industry.
Daily hire employees — the most common engagement type on construction sites — give or receive 1 day's notice (or 1 day's pay in lieu) when ending employment. This is an award-specific provision, significantly shorter than the NES scale.
Weekly hire employees — full-time and part-time employees not employed on a daily basis — are covered by the NES minimum notice scale under Fair Work Act 2009 s.117:
| Years of continuous service | Minimum notice |
|---|---|
| Less than 1 year | 1 week |
| 1–3 years | 2 weeks |
| 3–5 years | 3 weeks |
| 5 years or more | 4 weeks |
An additional 1 week applies for employees over 45 years of age with at least 2 years of continuous service.
Employers may elect to pay out notice rather than requiring employees to work through the notice period. For weekly hire employees, payment in lieu of notice is calculated as the gross weekly pay multiplied by the applicable notice weeks.
Redundancy Pay
The Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 contains an industry-specific redundancy scheme under clause 41 that applies in place of the NES redundancy provisions (Fair Work Act 2009, Schedule 4, s.119). This is a critical distinction from most other awards.
The industry scheme has a broader definition of redundancy — employment ending for any reason other than serious misconduct or refusal of duty, including project completion and end of available work.
Industry-specific redundancy scale:
| Length of service | Redundancy payment |
|---|---|
| Less than 12 months | 1.75 hours' pay per week of service |
| 1–2 years | 2.4 weeks' pay + 1.75 hrs/week over 1 year (max 4.8 weeks) |
| 2–3 years | 4.8 weeks' pay + 1.6 hrs/week over 2 years (max 7 weeks) |
| 3–4 years | 7 weeks' pay + 0.73 hrs/week over 3 years (max 8 weeks) |
| 4+ years | 8 weeks' pay (maximum) |
Unlike the NES scale, there is no small business exemption under this award-specific scheme. The maximum redundancy payment is capped at 8 weeks, compared to 16 weeks under the NES. Note that many Victorian employers participate in the CoINVEST portable entitlements fund, which pre-funds these obligations through weekly contributions.
Apprentices are excluded from this redundancy scheme.
Superannuation
Employers must pay superannuation contributions at the Superannuation Guarantee (SG) rate of 12.0% on employees' ordinary time earnings, effective from 1 July 2025 under the Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act 1992. This rate increased from 11.5% and will remain at 12% going forward.
Ordinary time earnings for super purposes include the base rate and industry allowance but exclude overtime, meal allowances, and fares/travel allowances.
Cbus Super is the industry fund associated with the building and construction sector, but employees have the right to nominate any complying superannuation fund under Fair Work Act 2009 s.149A (Superannuation — choice of fund).
The concessional contributions cap for 2025-26 is AUD $30,000 per year (including employer SG contributions). Employees wishing to make additional voluntary concessional contributions should account for this cap to avoid the associated tax penalty.
State and Territory Variations
The Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 is a federal instrument that sets uniform minimum rates across all Australian states and territories. However, several entitlements depend on the state or territory in which you work.
Long Service Leave
Long service leave is governed by state and territory legislation, not the Fair Work Act. Qualifying periods and entitlements differ significantly by jurisdiction:
| State/Territory | Qualifying period | Entitlement | Legislation |
|---|---|---|---|
| NSW | 10 years | 2 months (8.667 weeks) | Long Service Leave Act 1955 |
| VIC | 7 years | 6.067 weeks | Long Service Leave Act 2018 |
| QLD | 10 years | 8.667 weeks | Industrial Relations Act 2016 s.94 |
| SA | 10 years | 13 weeks | Long Service Leave Act 1987 |
| WA | 10 years | 8.667 weeks | Long Service Leave Act 1958 |
| TAS | 10 years | 8.667 weeks | Long Service Leave Act 1976 |
| ACT | 10 years | 6.067 weeks (from 7 yrs pro-rata) | Long Service Leave Act 1976 |
| NT | 10 years | 13 weeks | Long Service Leave Act 1981 |
Victoria and NSW also have portable long service leave schemes for the construction industry. In Victoria, CoINVEST administers portable LSL — service is cumulative across different employers in the industry, providing stronger protections for workers who change construction employers frequently.
Use the Long Service Leave tab in the calculator above to estimate your entitlement based on your state.
Public Holidays
Federal public holidays (New Year's Day, Australia Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, ANZAC Day, King's Birthday, Christmas Day, Boxing Day) apply across all states. Additional state-specific public holidays include Melbourne Cup Day (Victoria), EKKA Show Day (Queensland), Adelaide Cup (South Australia), Foundation Day (Western Australia), and Eight Hours Day (Tasmania).
Workers Compensation
Workers compensation insurance is a state-based scheme. Premiums, claim entitlements, and return-to-work provisions vary: icare (NSW), WorkSafe (VIC), WorkCover (QLD), ReturnToWorkSA (SA), WorkCover (WA), WorkSafe (TAS), WorkSafe (ACT), NT WorkSafe (NT). Construction workers must be covered by their employer's workers compensation policy before starting work on site.
Your Rights at Work
Unfair Dismissal
Employees covered by this award can apply for unfair dismissal under Fair Work Act 2009 s.382 once the qualifying period has been served: 6 months for employers with 15 or more employees, or 12 months for small business employers (fewer than 15 employees). Applications must be lodged within 21 days of dismissal taking effect.
General Protections
Fair Work Act 2009 Part 3-1 prohibits adverse action against an employee because of a workplace right, industrial activity, protected attribute (such as union membership), or for reasons related to temporary absences due to illness or injury. These protections apply from the first day of employment — there is no qualifying period.
Right of Entry
The CFMEU (Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union) and other relevant unions hold right of entry permits allowing authorised union representatives to enter construction sites to investigate suspected award breaches, hold discussions with employees, and inspect records.
Work Health and Safety
All construction workers have the right to a safe workplace under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (and equivalent state legislation). The right to cease unsafe work (WHS Act s.84) cannot be treated as misconduct by an employer.
This article is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Pay rates are based on the Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 (MA000020) and Australian statutory rates as of 2025-26. For questions about your specific employment situation, contact your union, the Fair Work Ombudsman (1300 724 690), or a qualified employment lawyer.
