Ann: Trading Halt, page-234

Lets do some sums on the prestigious 160K mentioned above that these tradies are earning doing FIFO:

If we are to look at these guys doing 12 hour days through a normal workshop enterprise agreement in town somewhere, they would have it with:
- First 8 hours normal time (Mon-Fri)
- First 3 hours overtime at time and a half
- Additional overtime at double time
- All day Sunday at double time

Over your 8 days worked on swing you would rack up:

- 48 hrs standard rate
- 21 hrs time and a half
- 27 hrs double time

Total payable hours: 133.5 for the 8 days

Working an 8/6 roster equates to working 30 weeks per year. 30 x 133.5 = 4005 hours payable

$160,000 per year divided by 4005 equals $39.95 per hour.

Not as good as it initially looks when you crunch some basic numbers, is it? Note that the above doesn't take into consideration a normal night shift allowance of 15%-30% which is most likely half your working time onsite, nor does it take into consideration all of the penalty rates for the many public holidays worked throughout the year....but I think the point has been made without delving deeper.

Now once the go getter has got himself this job, he then finds himself taking home $2,163 per week and paying PAYG of $913 per week and because he (or she) is on a fixed salary working as an employee and has bugger all deductions, they happily hand to the govt $47,476 per year in tax.....and still brag about kicking goals on the $39.95 per hour they are earning while spending more than half the year away from their family.

This is a actually a really good subject to come up on an investment forum. It does go a long way to show that if you aren't prepared to do the work and crunch the numbers, you will most likely always be a noob getting fleeced on MOU announcements.