Employees under the Electrical Award may get paid different vehicle and travel allowances when they:

• use their own vehicle to get to a work site
• travel to work
• travel to a job up to 50 kilometres from their employer’s workshop, depot or registered office
• travel to a job more than 50 kilometres from their employer’s workshop, depot or registered office.

Tip

It’s important to look at both the type of allowance and when it would apply, as this may change based on:

• where they start and finish work
• if they’re offered transport by the employer
• if they make their own way to work.

Vehicle and travel allowances

Vehicle allowance

Employees asked to use their own vehicle for work are paid a vehicle allowance of $0.98 per kilometre.

Travel time allowance

All employees are paid a travel time allowance of $8.46 each day they present themselves for work. The allowance is also paid on rostered days off. Apprentices are paid their apprentice percentage of this allowance.

Employees don’t get paid the travel time allowance if they start and finish work at the employer’s workshop or depot.

Start and/or finish on job

Employees travelling to and/or from a job site get different allowances based on the distance travelled and whether transport is provided.

When the vehicle and travel allowances are paid

Tip

Use our Pay and Conditions Tool to calculate the current vehicle and travel allowances.

Start and finish at workshop or depot

Employees who start and finish work at their employer’s workshop or depot don’t get paid:

• vehicle allowance
• travel time allowance
• start and/or finish on job allowances.

Starting and/or finishing work at a job site

Vehicle allowance

Employees who agree with their employer to use their own vehicle are paid a vehicle allowance of $0.98 per kilometre for the distance they travel:

• between their employer’s depot and job sites
• between job sites
• to or from distant work
• when they’re called back to the job to work overtime
• more than the distance they usually travel from their home to their employer’s workshop or depot when they start or finish work at a job site away from the workshop or depot.

Employees don’t get this allowance for:

• travel between their home and the employer’s workshop or depot
• travel to a job site that’s closer to home than the employer’s workshop or depot.

Start and/or finish on the job allowances

Employees are paid the start and/or finish on the job allowances depending on how far away the job site is from the employer’s workshop or depot.

Less than 50 kilometres from the workshop office or depot

When employees start and/or finish work on the job site, they’re paid:

• $27.52 per day when the employer doesn’t offer free transport, or
• $4.94 per day if the employer offers free transport.

No vehicle allowance applies.

Example

Neve uses her own truck 3 days per week to travel from her home to a job site. 2 days per week she takes materials from the employer’s depot to a job site. Her employer supplies her with a work truck on these days, which she returns to the depot when she finishes work.

She’s working on a job site that’s 30 kilometres from the depot.

Private vehicle between home and the job site (3 days per week)

When Neve uses her truck to travel straight to the job site, she’s paid:

• $8.46 per day travel time allowance
• $27.52 per day for starting and/or finishing on the job.

Neve won’t be paid:

• the $0.98 per kilometre vehicle allowance because she’s receiving the $27.52 start and/or finish on the job allowance, and not travelling more than 50 kilometres from the employer’s depot
• incidental expenses because she’s not travelling more than 50 kilometres to the job site
• her ordinary hourly rate for time spent travelling to and from the job site, because she’s travelling less than 50 kilometres.

Employer’s vehicle between the depot and the job site (2 days per week)

When Neve starts at the depot and uses her employer’s work truck, she’s paid her ordinary hourly rate for the time spent travelling between the employer’s depot and the job site on the days she takes materials to the site.

This is because the travel time forms part of her workday.

As she starts and finishes at the depot, Neve won’t be paid:

• $8.46 per day travel time allowance
• $4.94 per day for starting and/or finishing on the job.

More than 50 kilometres from the registered office or depot

When employees start and/or finish work on the job site and their employer doesn’t offer free transport, they’re paid:

• $27.52 per day
• their ordinary hourly rate for time spent travelling beyond 50 kilometres, with a minimum payment for 15 minutes
• $0.98 per kilometre for the distance travelled where it’s more than the distance travelled from their home to the employer’s workshop or depot.

Employees will also be reimbursed for incidental expenses incurred while travelling. Incidental expenses could include tolls or parking charges.

If they’re being paid the per kilometre vehicle allowance, employees won’t be reimbursed for their private vehicle expenses, which may include fuel, insurance or services costs.

When employees start and/or finish work on the job site and the employer offers free transport, they’re paid:

• $4.94 per day
• their ordinary hourly rate for time spent travelling beyond 50 kilometres, with a minimum payment for 15 minutes.

Example – more than 50 kilometres from the depot

Ross is an electrician. He uses his own truck for work.

Ross starts work at a job site that’s 60 kilometres from the employer’s depot.

Ross lives 40 kilometres from the depot. The job site is 20 kilometres from his home.

Ross will be paid:

• $8.46 travel time allowance for each day he works at the job site
• $27.52 per day for starting / finishing on the job
• reimbursement for incidental expenses, such as tolls, because the job site is more than 50 kilometres from the depot
• his ordinary hourly rate for any time spent travelling beyond 50 kilometres with a minimum of 15 minutes.

Ross won't be paid the vehicle allowance to cover his vehicle expenses because he travels a shorter distance from his home to the job site than he does to the depot.

Vehicle allowance

Employees asked to use their own vehicle for work are paid the vehicle allowance of $0.98 per kilometre. An example of this is travelling between work sites.

Example – less than 50 kilometres from the depot

Caitlyn is an electrical fitter. She uses her own truck for work and lives 10 kilometres from her employer’s depot. She starts work at a job site that's 5 kilometres from the depot.

During the day she travels to a second job site. This job site is 20 kilometres from the depot.

She finishes her day at the second job site.

Caitlyn gets paid the following allowances:

• $8.46 per day travel time allowance
• $27.52 for starting / finishing on the job
• $0.98 per kilometre motor vehicle allowance for the number of kilometres travelled between job sites.

Caitlyn won't be paid the motor vehicle allowance for her additional travel at the end of the day, because she's receiving the starting / finishing on the job allowance.

Living Away on distant work

See the Electrical Award for a definition of distant work and the allowances that may apply.