What are the RDO arrangements in the Building and Construction Award?

Under the Building and Construction Award, the normal working arrangement includes a rostered day off (RDO). RDOs are a rostering system where employees work a longer day to gain an additional day off.

In a typical RDO rostering system, employees work for 8 hours for 19 days and get a paid day off (an RDO) every four weeks.

However, it’s possible for employees to work under a rostering system that doesn’t include RDOs.

Who gets RDOs?

All employees can get RDOs. Casuals get RDOs if they work in accordance with a roster system that includes RDOs.

However, employers can choose not to use RDO arrangements for part-time employees and pay them for their actual hours worked each day, which can’t be more than 8 hours.

See Rostered days off for more information on how employees accumulate RDOs.

Are there other types of rostering arrangements?

If an employer and the majority of their employees agree that it’s not practical for employees to be provided with RDOs, they can agree to a different method of arranging working hours.

The different method must be recorded in writing and meet the following criteria:

• employees will work an average of 38 hours per week over a 20 day 4 week cycle
• hours can be worked between 7am and 6pm, Monday to Friday
• no more than 8 hours can be worked in a day.

What happens if an employee hasn’t worked enough hours to accumulate a full RDO?

They can still have the RDO but they will only be paid for the time they’ve accumulated.

Do public holidays count for accumulating an RDO?

Full-time and part-time employees will still accumulate time for an RDO on a public holiday that they don’t work.

Does unpaid leave count for accumulating an RDO?

No.