Know Your Rights.
Know Your Pay.

Ordinary hours are 8 hours per day, Monday to Friday within the spread of 6am–6pm. Start/finish changes require 18 hours notice.

Every overtime hour is double time — including the first hour on a weekday. Calculated at 1/36th of your weekly rate × 2. There is no time-and-a-half under this EBA. If your payslip shows 1.5x, contact your delegate or CFMEU.

Called in on Saturday or Sunday? Minimum 4 hours at double time regardless of how long you work.

Working on a public holiday = double time and a half (2.5×) with a minimum 4 hours.

Working any day between Christmas Day and New Year's Day, or Good Friday to Easter Monday = 300% of your hourly rate (on top of accrued leave). This is only with proper consultation and agreement.

Must have 10 consecutive hours off after overtime before next shift. If you come back without 10 hrs rest (with your agreement), all hours are at double time until released. After 2 days of extended overtime, minimum rest increases to 12 hours.

Required to work more than 2 hours overtime? You get a 20-minute paid break before starting. If they don't give it to you, those 20 minutes count as overtime.

Working 1.5+ hours overtime on an ordinary day? You get $31.98 meal allowance (from 1 March 2024, CPI-adjusted each March).

10-day/2-week cycle: work 9 days at 8hrs + 0.8hr accrual = 10th day off (RDO). That's 26 RDOs per year. RDOs are paid at ordinary rate + travel + site allowances. Employer must follow consultation procedure to require RDO work — without it, you're paid at public holiday rates (2.5×).

$54.50 for every day you work (or report for duty) at a site within 50km of a capital city GPO. CPI-adjusted each March — approximately $55.85 from March 2025. Counted in your annual leave loading calculation. If you work any day and don't get this, you're being underpaid.

If employer requires you to travel outside the 50km zone: you get the $54.50 allowance plus time spent travelling outside ordinary hours paid at ordinary rate (min ½ hr each way), plus $0.57/km in own vehicle.

Moved from one site to another during working hours in your own vehicle at employer's request = $0.95/km plus all travel time is paid working time.

Qualify when: the job is too far to return home each night AND you maintain a separate home residence. Rate = $913.75/week or $180.75/day for part-weeks. CPI-adjusted each March. LAHA is not wages (so no super, no OT multiplier applies to it).

On top of LAHA: $13.95 per night you are required to stay away from home.

If you work as required the day before/after a weekend, notify employer by Tuesday, and return home for the weekend → $41.10 weekend return allowance.

Employer pays the higher of $280/week OR 11.5% of ordinary time earnings (OTE) into CBus. Rises to 12% from 1 July 2025. OTE includes wages, site allowance, multi-storey, leading hand — NOT overtime or travel allowance.

Employer pays $160/week into your Incolink redundancy account. It's YOUR money — builds up over your career. Includes income protection and trauma insurance. Check balance at incolink.org.au.

Eligible to claim after 7 years (1,820 days) of continuous recorded service in the industry — portable across employers via LeavePlus. Your service record follows you across every construction employer you work for. If you leave the industry with over 7 years accrued, your entitlement remains yours and doesn't expire. Check your balance at leaveplus.com.au.

4 weeks paid leave + 17.5% loading. Formula: (Weekly rate + weekly travel) × 0.175 ÷ 13. Loading also paid out on termination.

10 days paid personal/carer's leave per year. 5 days upfront on commencement. Accumulates year to year. Paid at ordinary rate.

10 days paid from first day of employment for employees experiencing family or domestic violence.

First Monday in December — paid day off. If required to work: double time and a half, minimum 4 hours.

Directly performing demolition = $9.70/hr OR site allowance, whichever is greater (from 1 March 2024; CPI-adjusted annually).

Working in a cramped space or without sufficient ventilation = $1.06/hr extra.

Asbestos removal/neutralisation = $2.84/hr. PPE (protective suit + breathing apparatus) = additional $1.06/hr.

Artificial heat 46–54°C = $0.85/hr. Over 54°C = $1.06/hr. If continuous more than 2 hours → 20-minute paid rest break every 2 hours.

Using epoxy or two-pack catalyst materials = $1.06/hr. Working near someone using them = $0.85/hr.

Carrying fuels, oils or greases in own vehicle for employer's plant = $14.06/day on top of normal travel allowance.

Operating hydraulic hammer on excavator = $1.43/hr for all purposes (included in OTE).

Applies to projects over $5.7M. City of Melbourne new work: $5.00/hr (up to $289.1M). Victoria outside CoM: $2.85/hr ($5.7M–$34.7M) scaling to $8.10/hr ($3.47B+). Major projects: North East Link $10.75/hr · Metro Tunnel $11.10/hr · West Gate Tunnel $10.70/hr. Paid for all ordinary and overtime hours. NOT paid during periods of paid leave. CPI-adjusted each October.

Casuals are paid 125% of the ordinary rate for their classification — that's your base rate plus a 25% casual loading. For example, a casual CW3 Carpenter earns $62.21 × 1.25 = $77.76/hr for ordinary hours. This loading compensates for not getting annual leave, sick leave, or notice of termination.

When a casual works overtime or other penalty rates, the casual loading stacks on top of the penalty. Any work over 8 hours in a day attracts overtime rates.

How the maths works:
• Ordinary hours: 100% base + 25% casual = 125%
• Overtime (double time): 200% base + 25% casual = 225%
• Public holiday (2.5×): 250% base + 25% casual = 275%

Every time a casual is required to attend work, they must be paid a minimum of 8 hours at their casual rate, plus the daily travel allowance ($54.50). Even if they're sent home after 2 hours, they get paid for 8. Don't let an employer short-change you on this.

A casual required to work on a public holiday gets paid 275% of their ordinary hourly rate — that's the 250% public holiday rate plus 25% casual loading. Minimum 4 hours.

Casuals do not accrue RDOs under this EBA. However, if a casual is directed to work on a scheduled RDO day, full penalty rates apply — they can't be made to work an RDO at ordinary rates just because they're casual.

A casual who works the Friday before AND the Tuesday after the Building Industry Picnic Day (first Monday in December) is entitled to Picnic Day off with pay — 8 hours at their casual rate. If required to work Picnic Day, double time and a half applies (plus casual loading).

Industry fund contributions (super and Incolink) must be paid at the full weekly rate — not pro-rata. This means even if you only work a couple of days, your employer still owes the full $280/week super minimum and $160/week Incolink. Multiple engagements in one week don't create multiple fund payment entitlements though.

A casual's employment can be terminated with just 1 hour's notice. Unlike permanent employees, casuals don't get weeks of notice or redundancy pay — this is one of the key differences the 25% loading is meant to compensate for.

Casuals are not entitled to: annual leave, paid personal/carer's leave, paid jury service, paid compassionate leave, paid parental leave, or payment for public holidays not worked. The 25% casual loading is meant to compensate for these. Everything else in the EBA applies to casuals.

If you've been engaged regularly and systematically for more than 4 weeks, you have the right to request in writing that your employment be converted to permanent. Your employer has 7 days to respond in writing. If they don't respond within 7 days, you automatically become permanent. If they refuse your request, your casual loading immediately increases to 75% (making your ordinary rate 175% of base).

EBA Mate is a free, independent tool built to help Victorian construction workers understand their rights and entitlements under the CFMEU Victoria On-Site Construction EBA 2024–2027.

The EBA is a 186-page legal document. Most workers never read it — and employers know that. EBA Mate was built to change that by putting the key information in plain English, directly in workers' hands.

🧮 Pay Calculator — Enter your hours, trade, overtime and allowances to get a full itemised weekly pay breakdown.

🚨 Underpayment Checker — Compare what you were paid against what the EBA says you should have been paid. Generates a draft letter to payroll if there's a shortfall.

📅 RDO Tracker — Shows your next RDO date from the official CFMEU calendar, how many you've accrued, and the next 6 upcoming dates.

🏠 LAHA Checker — Step-by-step questions to find out if you're entitled to the Living Away From Home Allowance and how much you're owed.

📋 Entitlements Guide — Plain English breakdown of every entitlement in the EBA with clause references.

💰 Wage Rates — Complete rate tables for all four years of the EBA (2024–2027).

🤖 Ask EBA Mate — AI-powered Q&A grounded in the actual EBA document.

EBA Mate was built by an independent team who believe construction workers deserve to know their rights. This tool is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to the CFMEU in any way. It is an independent resource built from publicly available information in the Enterprise Agreement.

We have no commercial relationship with any union, employer, or industry body.

Yes — completely free. No sign-up, no subscription, no ads. EBA Mate will always be free for workers to use.

If you find it useful, share it with your workmates. The more workers who know their rights, the better.

We do our best to keep all rates and information accurate and up to date. If you spot something that looks wrong, please let us know at support@ebamate.com and we'll investigate and fix it promptly.

EBA Mate ("we", "us", "our") is committed to protecting your privacy. This policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and your rights regarding that information.

By using ebamate.com, you agree to the collection and use of information as described in this policy.

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use EBA Mate. This collects anonymous data including: pages visited, time spent on the site, general geographic location (country/city level), device type and browser, and how you arrived at the site (e.g. search engine, direct link).

This data is anonymous — we cannot identify you personally from it. It is used solely to improve the tool.

Any information you enter into the Pay Calculator, Underpayment Checker, RDO Tracker or LAHA Checker (hours, wages, dates etc.) is processed entirely in your browser. This data is never sent to our servers and never stored anywhere. When you close the page, it's gone.

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EBA Mate uses the following third party services:

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Under the Australian Privacy Act 1988, you have the right to: access personal information we hold about you, request correction of inaccurate information, and request deletion of your information.

Since we collect very little personal data, requests are usually straightforward. To exercise any of these rights, contact us at support@ebamate.com.

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. Changes will be posted on this page with an updated date. Continued use of EBA Mate after changes constitutes acceptance of the updated policy.

Privacy questions or requests: support@ebamate.com

For questions about the tool, how to use it, or anything else — email us and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.

We work hard to keep everything accurate but the EBA is updated regularly. If you spot something that looks wrong — a rate, a clause, a date — please let us know and we'll investigate and fix it promptly.

For any privacy-related requests including data access or deletion — see our Privacy Policy for details.