Building and construction industry

Directing employees to take annual leave during an end-of-year shutdown

Awards in the building and construction industry have rules about end-of-year shutdowns.

In some cases, employers may need to give at least 2 months’ notice in writing if they want to direct employees to take annual leave during a shutdown.

Check the rules in your award at List of awards.

For more information, see Rules and entitlements during the end-of-year holiday season.

Find all the information and resources you need to understand your workplace rights and obligations in the building and construction industry.

Workplace rights and obligations in the building and construction industry

Employers and employees in the building and construction industry can find free tools and resources about workplace rights and obligations on our website.

Pay and entitlements

Many employers and employees in the building and construction industry are covered by the:

To check which award covers you, use our 3-step Find my award tool.

For general information about pay and entitlements, visit our Pay and wages section. To calculate pay rates and other monetary amounts under your award, use our Pay Calculator.

We also have general information on:

For tailored industry information on these topics, use the industry filters available on various pages. Look for the boxes pictured below and select ‘Building, construction and on-site trades industry’ from the drop-down menu then select your sub-industry.

Example of industry filter that appears on pages for additional information based on an award
An example of an industry filter on the website. Choose your industry to get tailored award information on workplace issues like hours of work, redundancy and final pay.

We also have general information about enterprise agreements, who they apply to and how they’re made. For more information, visit Agreements. To find an enterprise or registered agreement that applies to your workplace, visit Fair Work Commission – Find an agreement.

Protections at work

There are various protections under the Fair Work Act. Find information on:

Contracting arrangements

Independent contractors have different rights and obligations to employees. It’s important to understand the difference between the two. If you’re a contractor, or you’re looking to engage a contractor, read our information about Independent contractors.

You'll find information about:

Dealing with workplace problems

Problems can happen in any workplace. We have tools and information to help employers and employees resolve problems at work.

Use the tools and resources in our Workplace problems section to:

  • help prevent problems at work
  • deal with common workplace problems
  • fix any problems that come up, including to find out how to get help and report issues anonymously to us.

Keep up to date

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