Call the CFMEU Legal Department on (03) 9341 3444

Under the award and our EBA, you should never and legally do not have to work in the rain.  However, you must make the work area safe before you cease work.  If a concrete pour has commenced prior to it raining, the pour can continue until finished, but all affected workers must be provided with wet weather gear and shall be paid double time until they have completed their work.  They are then allowed to go home for the remainder of the day without any loss of pay. 

If it rains at/before starting time and there are no covered walkways from the amenities to the workplace, workers do not have to go to work unless the rain stops or a covered walkway is provided.  

Further information can be found in the Construction and General Award (Clause 24)

If you’re still unsure, you can contact us.

CFMEU EBAs state that workers will stop work and leave site when the temperature reaches 35 degrees. The temperature is measured at the nearest Bureau of Meteorology weather station to the work site.A printable version of this heat policy which includes strategies for working in hot weather that’s below the 35 degree cutoff can be found here.

While there is no set wind speed limit, all plant has Australian Standard stipulations/requirements for safe operating at particular wind speeds. Manufacturing requirements/limitations of safely operating plant at certain wind speeds should also be utilised.  If in doubt – check with your OHS rep on site or contact us.

Well, there are a few different things you can do. If there is a Shop Steward or Health and Safety Rep who works on your site, you should let them know first. If not, then there are still lots of ways you can work this out. If you’re a union member and there’s nobody in your workplace that you feel comfortable reporting it to, you can submit an alert form to our OHS department who will endeavour to get in touch with you and help you with the issue. Worksafe are the Government regulator of OHS in Victoria, so you should definitely let them know that something isn’t right. Too often companies get to tell us that “there were no issues before now” when something goes wrong, just because nobody had reported them to Worksafe – So it pays to be diligent. You can also alert the local council area that you’re working within to the problem.

Using our Wage Sheets you can check the EBA wage rates for different work classifcations. You can also download Allowances documents.
If you still have questions you can contact us.

This document summarises the allowances granted under the award. Allowances specific to your work type can be found on the respective wage sheets here.

If you can’t see what you need, or you’re not sure if you’re eligible for certain allowances, feel free to contact us.

An Industry fund that administers the portable long service leave scheme for workers in the construction industry in Victoria, Australia. You can check out their website here.

An Industry fund that administers redundancy funds, portable sick leave schemes, income protection and trauma schemes for workers in the Victorian commercial building and construction industry. You can check out their website here.

As per the Superannuation Guarantee & clause 31 of the current EBA, the rate is currently set at 9.5% of ordinary time earnings or $205 per week (whichever is higher) and increases on the first of July each year ($215 per week at 1/7/18).

You can contact CBUS on 1300 361 784 for further information.

As per clause 36 of the Award, an employee, other than a casual employee, shall be entitled to not work on public holidays without deduction of ordinary pay. If you agree to work a public holiday (it’s not a lockdown or your job has dispensation) you are entitled to double time and a half. If you don’t think you are receiving the correct pay for public holidays or if you need more information, contact the office.

As per clause 39 of the current EBA. New employees (other than casuals) accrue sick leave days at a rate of one day per month at the beginning of each of the first ten months of employment. After ten months of employment, 10 days are added to the employee’s entitlement on each anniversary of the employee’s engagement.

As per clause 38.1 of the current EBA; Employees (other than casuals) will accrue annual leave entitlements at the rate of four weeks (20 Days) per year of continuous service.

While the CFMEU is not an employment agency, we do maintain an “out of work” register that members can put their details on. To get on the register, or talk to someone about what’s going on with your work situation, contact us.

There are 3 ways of joining:

•  Join online today
•  Join over the counter at your local CFMEU office 
•  Obtain an application form from your site shop steward who will receipt any payment on behalf of the CFMEU and return it to us on your behalf.

If you wish to resign your membership you can click here to submit the form and begin the process. To find out more about this or to temporarily suspend your membership, contact the office.