Modern awards are an important part of Australia’s fair work system. They provide minimum employment conditions that apply to employers and employees in a given industry.
The Building and Construction General On-site Award 2010 covers most employees and employers in the building and construction industry. This is a modern award introduced on 1 January 2010 to provide a national standard of employment conditions for the industry.
You can view the award in full at the Fair Work Australia website.
The Building and Construction General On-site Award 2010 is also underpinned by the National Employment Standards (NES). The NES applies to all employees covered by the fair work system. The NES provides employees an entitlement to certain minimum conditions, such as annual, personal and parental leave.
Transition to a modern award
The Building and Construction General On-site Award 2010 contains transitional provisions for employers and employees who were previously covered by instruments that provided higher or lower wage, loading or penalty rates than those contained in the modern award. The transitional provisions give employers and employees time to adjust to the changes in these rates.
The new Modern Award wage, loading and penalty rates will be phased in over an extended period until the full modern award rates apply on the first full pay period on or after 1 July 2014.
These transitional provisions are contained in Schedule A of the Building and Construction General On-site Award 2010.
What happens if my employer doesn’t meet these conditions?
Since October 2010, the ABCC has focussed on holding employers who underpay their employees to account.
The ABCC has broad powers to investigate breaches of the fair work system, including modern awards. We use these powers to ensure that employees receive the wages and other conditions to which you are entitled.
If you believe that you are being paid less than the award says you should be, then you should contact the ABCC for assistance.
Better off overall test
The minimum conditions specified in the Building and Construction General On-site Award 2010 form the benchmark for the better off overall test. The better off overall test is applied by Fair Work Australia when it is deciding whether to approve an enterprise agreement. The test ensures that employees to be covered by an enterprise agreement will be better off overall than if they were covered by the modern award.
Fair Work Australia reviews all enterprise agreements made on or after 1 January 2010 to ensure they pass the better off overall test. For more information see the Fair Work Australia website.