Junior Worker Base Payment Rate for Concreters

This post aims to help understand junior concrete worker base payment rates in Australia. The post was written in March 2023. Any specific rates or percentages should be reverified by the reader (you) when considering this information as they do change over time.

This post discusses information when considering employment under the Building and Construction Award as described by the FairWork Commission in Australia.

Jargon

For this article, the words worker and employee mean the same thing.

In this article we will split workers into two main classes: juniors and adults.

A junior worker is anyone under the age of 21.

An adult worker is anyone 21 years of age or older.

Junior Rates

Some job industry awards pay different rates to junior workers.

In Building and Construction this does not exist.

Proof: visit Junior pay rates – Fair Work Ombudsman webpage and scroll down to section titled Junior pay rates under awards. From the dropdown options select Building, Construction and on-site trades for the Industry and select Building and Construction for the Sub-industry. Click the Show information tailored for me button.

The result will show:

Based on what you’ve told us, it looks like you’re covered by the Building and Construction General On-site Award [MA000020].

There are no junior pay rates in the Building and Construction Award.

Juniors have to be paid the relevant pay rate for their classification. This means that all employees (except trainees and apprentices) are entitled to the same minimum rate regardless of their age.

fairwork.gov.au

Be aware that this does not apply to trainees or apprentices. That is a different topic.

Adult Rates

The Building and Construction industry award pay rate for adults will vary based on the worker’s experience and abilities.

Further information on the Building and Construction Award can be found here: Building and Construction General On-site Award [MA000020] – Fair Work Ombudsman

To find a pay rate for a worker, you can use this tool: P.A.C.T Pay Calculator – Find your award v0.1.112 (fairwork.gov.au)

Stepping through the calculator options, I searched for and selected:

  • concrete worker for the employee’s occupation
  • Building, Construction and on-site trades and Building and Construction for industry and sub-industry
  • The search result was the Building and Construction General On-site Award (MA000020)
  • Level 1 (CW/ECW 1) (level a) to denote an entry level worker level (this would be the closest thing to a junior worker as defined by the Building and Construction award.)
  • Casual for the type of employment, as this is often how labour is arranged in concreting
  • General building and construction or metal and engineering construction for the sector
  • Performing other work not listed for the type of work
  • Yes for if the employee works in the building and construction industry
  • No for if the employee is a leading hand

The result base pay rate for this type of worker was: $29.51

Takeaway

How much should an inexperienced junior worker in the building and construction industry be paid?

An entry level, junior or adult, casual worker (regardless of age), according to the Australian Building and Construction Industry Award rate should be paid a base rate of not less than $29.51 an hour.

Disclaimers & Attributes

All information in this post was considered accurate at time of writing, with links to information sources included. We are not business advisors or accountants. You should always verify information you find online with government authorities in your locale as rates and regulations may change annually.

Image by kstudio on Freepik

donkeyDiary 20221212

Sodalite Exposed Aggregate – Elanora

Back patio / pool surround at Elanora

We recently completed a patio/pool surround and house surrounds at Elanora. The customer chose to use an exposed aggregate mix, specifically Sodalite from Nucon.

Exposed aggregate – “Sodalite” from Nucon Southport

Sodalite is a white coloured concrete mix with primarily light brown stones. The stone in this mix was smooth and flat. Sodalite has a base cost of $550 + GST per cubic metre (material only). It was only available from the Nucon Southport plant.

exposed aggregate pool surround sodalite nucon

In our photos here the concrete looks almost like a pale brown colour. When wet, the mix colour does look almost like a latte or coffee colour. The brown from the stone really contributes to this when wet and most likely will appear this way if a wet look sealer is applied.

When dry, the mix really lightens up and appears closer to a white colour. It can be rather glary on the eyes when in full sun. The customer on this job is going to install a fly over roof above their patio area.

Concreter’s Perspective

exposed sodalite surround

From the concreter’s perspective, Sodalite was a fast moving mix. In moderately hot November temperatures (high 20s, low 30s C) the mix was hard and ready to wash within 2 to 3 hours of the truck arriving on site.

The mix is rather “chalky” and doesn’t seem to rapidly bond to materials as much as regular concrete does, so washing tools and surfaces was easier with this mix compared to usual.

The white colouring does create a lot of staining if you wash off into a drain or guttered area and damming the drainage is absolutely necessary.

We barrowed this mix in as the job access was limited and pumping exposed aggregate mix is a risky endeavor, especially when it costs this much. The job was split into two pours to increase access to the work areas, provide wash areas for the 2 house surround areas, to remove the need for a concrete pump and the use of a “pump mix” and to make the pours more manageable overall.

See you on the next one.

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