As the winter months are upon us here in Sydney the temperature has dropped, the sun hides behind the clouds more often and we see more rain! Of course the weather can determine how much can be done on a daily basis in the construction industry; between the sourcing of materials and being able to work safely on site, the rain can dictate your working day or even week.
If you work in construction you’ll have mixed feelings when you hear that you’re “rained off”. If you’re permanently employed by your employer and working full time you will probably welcome the news that you are rained off as you will get paid for a full day at work without having to do the work! However if you’re working for yourself as a contractor you won’t welcome the news with open arms as being rained off means missing a day of work and of pay.
How does being rained off effect labour hire workers?
Labour hire operates differently to being a full time employee for a company or an independent contractor. You are essentially employed by the labour hire agency who arrange your worksite, job role, hours and ensure you are paid for your work, but it is the company who you will be working for that pays the labour hire agency for your work. So what happens when you’re rained off? Do you still get paid? If you’re an employer do you still have to pay your labour hire workers if they have been rained off?
Well we can’t speak for every labour hire agency but we have standard procedures for clients cancelling work with our employees as a result of rain.
- A client is required to let us know either the night before or at least 2 hours prior to the worker being required to turn up to the worksite if they will no longer require the worker due to weather conditions. This is simply so we can avoid sending you a worker that is unable to do the job when they get there.
- If one of our workers isn’t given enough notice of work being cancelled due to weather conditions then the client is required to pay that employee for a minimum of 4 hours at the agreed rate.
What does this mean for me if I’m a client?
Labour hire is massively beneficial for clients in the event of weather disrupting work. As we have already mentioned above, if our client had employed a permanent employee they would be responsible for paying that employee for the entire day in the event of being rained off. With labour hire the client can lower operational costs by not having to pay for an employee’s time unless they are actively working on the project (provided they give notice that they will not be operating due to weather conditions). And as we mentioned above in relation to BriX Projects, worst case scenario is that you have to pay an employee for four hours, still significantly less than a permanent employee.
What does this mean for me as a labour hire worker?
Although you will not get the perks of being able to be paid for a full day at work without having to complete the work, there are some positives. You will still be paid for a minimum of four hours in the event work is cancelled due to weather conditions (if we haven’t been able to inform you in time). And at BriX we will try our best to inform you as soon as possible if you will not be working due to weather conditions in order not to waste your time and where possible can try to find you an alternative that isn’t affected by the weather.
If you are interested in working for BriX Projects or would like more information about our labour hire services then please contact our team today on 1800 621 066 or contact us online for more information.