The vehicle and travel allowances paid to an employee depend on:

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

Start and finish at registered office or depot

Employees who start and finish work at their employer’s registered office or depot don’t get paid the motor vehicle allowance, travel time allowance or the start and/or finish on job allowances.

Motor allowance

Employees asked to use their own vehicle for work are paid a motor allowance of $0.95 per kilometre. An example of this is travelling between work sites.

Starting and/or finishing work at a job site

Motor vehicle allowance

Employees who agree with their employer to use their own vehicle are paid a motor vehicle allowance of $0.95 per kilometre for the distance they travel:

• between their employer’s depot and job sites
• to or from distant work
• when they’re called back to the job to work overtime
• that is more than the distance they usually travel from their home to their employer’s workshop or depot when the job site is more than 50 kilometres from their employer’s registered office or depot.

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.

Start and/or finish on the job allowances

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

Less than 50 kilometres from the registered 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 transport free of charge, or
• $4.94 per day if employer offers transport free of charge
• No motor vehicle allowance applies.

Example

Neve uses her own car three days per week to travel from her home to the job sites she works on. Two days per week she transports materials to the job site from the registered depot. Her employer provides her with a motor vehicle on these days.

She lives 10 kilometres from her employer’s registered depot. She is working on a job site that’s 30 kilometres from the registered depot.

Neve will be paid the following for travelling in:

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

• $8.46 per day travel time allowance
• $27.52 per day on the days she travels to the job site in her private motor vehicle.

Neve will not be paid:

• the $0.95 per kilometre motor vehicle allowance because she is receiving the $27.52 start and/or finish on the job allowance, or is using her employer’s vehicle
• incidental expenses because she is not travelling more than 50 kilometres to the job site
• her ordinary hourly rate for time spent travelling to and from the job site the 3 days she uses her private motor vehicle, because she is travelling less than 50 kilometres.

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

• her ordinary hourly rate for the time spent travelling between the registered depot and the job site on the days she transports materials to the site. This is because Neve commences and ends her work day at the depot and the travel time forms part of her work day.

Neve will not be paid:

• $8.46 per day travel time allowance because she starts at the depot and finishes at the job site. 
• $4.94 per day because she is required to start and finish at the registered office or depot. 

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 transport free of charge, 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
• $0.95 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 might include tolls or parking charges. If they're being paid the motor vehicle allowance, employees won’t be reimbursed for their private motor vehicle expenses, which may include fuel, insurance or service costs. 

When employees start and/or finish work on the job site and the employer offers transport free of charge, 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

Ross is an electrician. He uses his private motor vehicle for work.

He has been asked to commence work at a job site that is 60 kilometres from the registered depot. Ross lives 40 kilometres from the registered depot. The job site is 20 kilometres from Ross’ home.

Ross will be paid the following allowances:

• $8.46 travel time allowance for each day Ross 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 kms from the depot.

Ross will not be paid:

• the motor vehicle allowance to cover his private motor vehicle expenses because he travels a shorter distance from his home to the job site than he does to the registered depot
• his ordinary hourly rate for any time spent travelling, because he doesn’t travel a distance in excess of 50kms between the job site and his home.

Motor allowance

Employees asked to use their own vehicle for work are paid a motor allowance of $0.95 per kilometre. An example of this is travelling between work sites.

Example

Caitlyn is an electrical fitter. She uses her own vehicle for work.

She commences work at a job site located 54 kilometres from the registered depot and 49 kilometres from her home.

During the day she travels 10 kilometres to a second job site where she finishes work for the day.

This job site is 64 kilometres from the registered depot and 59 kilometres from her home.

Caitlyn will be paid the following allowances:

• $8.46 per day travel time allowance
• $27.52 for starting / finishing on the job
• $0.95 per kilometre motor vehicle allowance for 10 kilometres travelling between job sites
• the higher of her ordinary hourly rate for 15 mins or her ordinary hourly rate for the time spent travelling 9 kms from the job site at the end of the day to her home
• her incidental expenses, such as tolls.

Caitlyn will not be paid:

• her hourly rate to go to the job site at the start of the day because she travelled less than 50 kms
• the motor vehicle allowance for the first 50kms travelled because she receives the starting / finishing on the job allowance.