Electrical Award vs Building Award: Payroll Differences

The Electrical Award usually covers electrical contracting work. The Building Award usually covers general on-site construction. Payroll differs in classifications, allowances, travel, RDOs, overtime triggers and employment rules, even when both workers stand on the same site.

Here is the trap. You do not pick an award just because someone holds an electrical licence or works on a building site. Start with the employer’s industry, the work performed and the available classification.

The two awards at a glance

The Electrical, Electronic and Communications Contracting Award 2020 is MA000025. The Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 is MA000020.

Payroll point	Electrical Award	Building Award
Main coverage	Electrical services and contracting employers, with electrical and communications classifications	General on-site building and construction employers and covered classifications
Classification focus	Electrical worker grades, apprentices, communications workers and related roles	Construction workers, trades, apprentices, operators and labouring classifications
Ordinary hours	38 hours a week, arranged under the award	38 hours a week, often arranged through an RDO cycle
Overtime	Depends on when the work occurs, employment type and shift arrangements	Depends on daily or weekly hours, RDO arrangements, employment type and shift arrangements
Allowances	Licence, tools, travel, distant work and work-condition allowances may apply	Industry, tools, travel, fares, height, site and work-condition allowances may apply
Site conditions	Electrical work clauses must be checked, even on a major building site	Detailed on-site rules can apply to weather, amenities and distant work
Employment provisions	Weekly and casual employment rules, plus apprentice provisions	Includes specific rules for relevant daily hire, weekly hire and casual employees

As at November 2026, both awards use a 38-hour ordinary full-time week as the basic benchmark. As at November 2026, casual loading is 25% under both awards, although the way penalties interact with casual rates must be checked in the applicable clause.

For permanent day workers, the common headline overtime pattern is 150% for the first 2 hours and 200% after that. Public holiday work can reach 250%. Those figures are current as at November 2026, but do not treat them as a universal payroll formula. Shiftwork, call-backs, minimum payments and casual employment can change the result.

Coverage comes before the pay rate

Say an electrical contractor sends a licensed electrician to wire a new apartment block. The site is plainly a building site, but the Electrical Award will usually be the first award to test because of the employer’s electrical contracting business and the employee’s classification.

Now say a commercial builder directly employs someone to perform mixed construction duties. The Building Award may be the better starting point. You still need to confirm that the employee fits a classification. A job title alone does not settle it.

Check these four things:

1. What business does the employer operate?
2. What duties does the employee actually perform?
3. Is there a classification that fits those duties?
4. Does either award contain an exclusion that settles the overlap?

Our Awards hub explains the wider award checking process. Once coverage and classification are clear, use the Award Rate Checker to review the applicable rate, then confirm it against the current award and Fair Work pay guide.

RDOs can produce different payroll records

Both awards can involve rostered days off, but the payroll setup must follow the actual award arrangement.

Under a common Building Award cycle, an employee works a 20-day, four-week pattern with time accruing towards an RDO. A typical setup accrues 0.4 hours on each worked day until the employee has enough paid time for the rostered day off.

Do not copy that setup into an Electrical Award employee’s record without checking their hours arrangement. The electrical employee may have a different roster, agreement about ordinary hours or RDO cycle.

This affects more than the calendar. Payroll needs to record:

• hours worked and hours accrued towards the RDO
• work performed on a scheduled RDO
• overtime triggered outside the agreed spread
• paid leave taken during an accrual cycle
• termination balances and any accrued RDO entitlement

A worker receiving the correct weekly gross amount can still have an incorrect RDO balance.

Allowances are where the totals split apart

The base hourly rate is only the starting point. The two awards have different allowance lists and different eligibility tests.

An electrical worker may qualify for an electrical licence allowance, tool allowance, travel payment or an allowance linked to particular work conditions. A Building Award employee may qualify for industry, tool, fares and travel, height, underground, confined-space or other site-related payments.

Not every allowance applies to every worker. Ask what happened that day. Did the employee use their own tools? Were they required to travel away from the usual starting point? Did they work at height or in unusually dirty conditions? Was accommodation supplied?

Also check whether an allowance is described as all-purpose. An all-purpose amount may need to be included when calculating overtime, leave or another penalty. A reimbursement for an actual expense is generally treated differently.

This is a common underpayment problem. The hourly rate looks right, but overtime has been calculated without an all-purpose allowance that should have formed part of the rate.

Casuals and apprentices need their own rules

As at November 2026, the standard casual loading under both awards is 25%. That does not mean you can always calculate overtime by adding 25% to a permanent employee’s penalty rate. Use the casual overtime wording and rate table in the relevant award.

Apprentices also need careful handling. Their minimum rate can depend on the apprenticeship stage, the employee’s schooling and whether they started before or after turning 21. Training time, travel to training and reimbursement rules may apply.

If an apprentice moves from one stage to another, update payroll from the correct progression date. Do not wait for the next annual wage review.

Do not forget super and annual wage changes

The awards set minimum pay and conditions, while super comes mainly from superannuation law. As at November 2026, the Superannuation Guarantee rate is 12% of ordinary time earnings. Overtime is not automatically ordinary time earnings, but some allowances and paid leave can be.

Minimum award rates are usually adjusted after the Annual Wage Review. That means a saved rate from the previous financial year may be wrong even when the worker’s classification has not changed.

There is no single dollar rate for an “electrician” or “construction worker”. The grade, apprenticeship stage, employment type and applicable allowances all matter. If the worker is covered by an enterprise agreement, compare the agreement against the relevant award safety net and apply the actual instrument correctly.

A practical payroll check

Before the first pay run, record the award code, classification, grade, employment type, ordinary-hours arrangement and work location. Then map each allowance and penalty separately.

Each pay period, compare the roster with actual time records. Look for early starts, late finishes, RDO work, call-backs, travel, site conditions and public holidays. The difference between the Electrical Award and Building Award is rarely just one hourly rate. It is the full set of rules attached to the work.