stuckinblighty

Can anyone enlighten me on the general level of working conditions/entitlements.I know each company is different but what is the average holiday entitlement ,sick pay,hours worked per week etc.I interested on how they compare to the UK as they are never mentioned in any job ads.

Thanks,Lee

jad n rich

Search on the "workplace reform" basically they are 'negotiable' Employers since they brought in workplace reform about a year ago, have drawn up over a million contracts that way.

A lot of jobs are also casual labour, hols sick etc dont apply but you do get a couple of extra bucks an hour as compensation. but of course no job security.

Vash the Stampede

Holiday entitlement is usually 4 weeks per year with 17.5% leave loading. I had 5 weeks when I lived in Australia, but that was in a government job.

For average pay rates, click here. (Latest census results).

In addition to salary, Australian workers receive 9% superannuation. It's something I miss now that I'm in the UK, paying tax & NI but receiving no superannuation whatsoever. I shudder to think how much damage is being done to my super fund back home for every year that I'm outside the country.

Average working week is around 40 hours, or 1800 hours per year (see the article here). Now that I'm in the UK, my working week is 46.5 hours long, with Saturday work bringing it up to 50.5 hours every fourth week.

As for sick pay:
Wikipedia.

Hope this helps.

stuckinblighty

cheers mate i'll check out the links later

Lee

BadgeIsBack

Work reform is good. Makes all the lazy workers more efficient. Trade Unions should be dismantled in my books.

Me - same as UK. 4 weeks holiday, stacks of sick leave, personal leave days.
I can't take them fast enough and I've accrued a fair amount.

We get good salaries and at least inflation every year, with a performance based increase and bonus.

I work 37 hrs a week here.

Vash the Stampede

My pleasure.

The S's

Please enlighten us as to what you do for a living. Your hours, wage, entittlements etc do not seem to be the average working mans benefits. I would hazard a guess that you are not a factory or manual worker on your sweeping statement about trade unions, which I strongly disagree with by the way..

geordie downunder

I do welding inspection so a blue collar trade.Working week is 36 hrs but most of the welders I test do 10-12 hrs o/time per week.Go on site and usually 7x 10 or 12 hr shifts with an average of 4 on 1 off,sometimes 6 and 1.Four weeks holiday with 17.5% loading,10 days sick leave.Most workshops have decent stereo systems so radio on all day.The leave loading usually makes up for lost timekeeping bonuses when on holiday.Free work clothes and boots,some companies launder them but that is scarce now.On hot sites free electrolyte replacement drinks,some companies have ice making machines.Some companies put drinks and BBQ,s on frequently,some are really tight fisted and even overcharge on the coke machine ($1.50,most companies $1)Note that most of the companies I test for are union shops,AWA would be worse conditions,work seems to be slowing at the moment so expect some conditions to be lost.

thebears

Thats just silly for a business to erode is labour capital. A client i have at the moment thought they were shit hot putting all its staff on short notice periods - on the basis they can get rid of them faster.

Well there exiting faster than hot cakes and I'm losing the diet with all the farewell cakes

On one hand there are always the odd idiot worker who will test the patience of any company - but its in the business interests to work with the labour force not alienate it. Too many short sighted gits in the wrong roles these days.

Dolly

Do they still have Rostered Days Off over there? OH worked as a shuttering chippy on a working holiday visa about 9 or 10 years agao and they got one monday off a month as a RDO.

Dolly

Vash the Stampede

It depends on the nature of your job, your working hours, and the industry in which you are employed.

When I worked night shifts for Australia Post, I worked one Sunday in every three, but received an RDO on the same week as compensation.

stuckinblighty

is it my imagination or are these 'conditions' and working hours really bad ? Long hours and hardly anytime off...geezzz..i thought that Aussie was meant to have the work/home time balance in favour of R and R ??
do i not like the sound of that :scared:

Vash the Stampede

He said that the working week is 36 hours, but most of the welders he tests do 10-12 hours overtime per week. Since overtime is not rostered time, that still leaves the working week at 36 hours.

If some welders want to work 10-12 hour shifts and scoop up a nice bag of overtime, fair play to them. It doesn't mean that everyone else will be doing the same.

To put it in perspective: here in the UK, I currently work 46.5 hours a week. For an Aussie welder, that would be 36 standard hours plus 10.5 hours of overtime.

But for me, it's just 46.5 hours on regular pay. No bonus, no overtime, no leave loading. Just plain old hard graft at a fixed rate.

All of a sudden, the Aussie welder's job starts to look pretty good.

LouiseD

Not always though - depends on the company. My brother is a welder and doesn't get any of the above. A chap he's worked with has been there for 10 years and hasn't had a days paid holiday yet. I work for a trade association in Victoria, and generally speaking there seems to be a tendency for many trades here to work on either a "casual" basis or an ABN self employed type of contract. Either way, you don't always get holiday pay, bonus, overtime etc. There is no job security either with this type of work. My husband is also a tradie and doesn't get paid for holidays, sickness etc. and if they run out of supplies on site or it's too windy or too hot etc., they get sent home and pay is deducted for the hours not worked. Working conditions aren't always brilliant either with shoddy safety practices being common here, although the unions and worksafe are trying to change this. The site barbies and beer on Friday afternoons are good I believe though!

LouiseD

I'ts just a rumour. Hubby leaves the house at 6am every morning, gets back at 5pm. (Compare to his UK job of leaving house at 7am and getting back at 4pm). From what I've seen, most people here tend to work similar hours to UK. Four weeks holiday pay is pretty standard for many jobs if you are employed on a permanent basis.

Everyone's circumstances are different and every job is different though - I actually work less hours here for similar pay to what I earned in the UK. I suppose it just depends on what job you do and who you work for.