Pay & Wages
John Holland Pay Rates 2026: Site, Trade & EA Pay
What John Holland workers should be paid in 2026 — the Building and Construction General On-site Award floor by classification, casual loading, penalties, and where the John Holland enterprise agreements sit.
Who covers John Holland workers — award or agreement?
John Holland is one of the country's largest construction and rail companies, building tunnels, rail lines, roads, hospitals and defence facilities, and operating and maintaining rail networks (including its stake in Yarra Trams and Metro Trains). Civil workers, tradespeople, plant operators, rail maintainers and project staff make up the workforce.
John Holland negotiates project and business enterprise agreements with the construction and rail unions (below). The federal safety net on construction sites is the Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020, tabled below; rail operations sit on the Rail Industry Award.
The federal awards relevant to John Holland roles:
- Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 (MA000020)
Workforce snapshot. In its 2024-25 report to the Workplace Gender Equality Agency, China Communications Construction Company declared 5,960 employees across 4 reporting entities — 3.1% casual and 26.6% women, with 1,372 in management roles. Source: WGEA 2025 Public Data File, data.gov.au (CC-BY 3.0 AU).
Construction award floor (1 July 2026)
The Building and Construction General On-site Award 2020 (MA000020) adult minimums are:
| Classification | Permanent | Casual (incl. 25%) |
|---|---|---|
| Level 1 (CW/ECW 1) — CW1 (a) | $26.67/hr | $33.34/hr |
| Level 1 (CW/ECW 1) — CW1 (b) | $27.20/hr | $34.00/hr |
| Level 1 (CW/ECW 1) — CW1 (c) | $27.56/hr | $34.45/hr |
| Level 1 (CW/ECW 1) — CW1 (d) | $28.05/hr | $35.06/hr |
| Level 2 (CW/ECW 2) | $28.62/hr | $35.77/hr |
| Level 3 (CW/ECW 3) | $29.45/hr | $36.81/hr |
| Level 4 (CW/ECW 4) | $30.38/hr | $37.98/hr |
| Level 5 (CW/ECW 5) | $31.31/hr | $39.14/hr |
| Level 6 (CW/ECW 6) | $32.14/hr | $40.17/hr |
| Level 7 (CW/ECW 7) | $33.06/hr | $41.33/hr |
| Level 8 (CW/ECW 8) | $33.86/hr | $42.33/hr |
| Level 9 (ECW 9) | $34.46/hr | $43.08/hr |
On-site pay also carries the award's industry, tool, travel and site allowances, plus a 36-hour week with RDOs on most projects — project agreements restructure all of this, and sit well above the ladder.
Source: Fair Work Commission modern awards pay database, current-operative rates (1 July 2026 annual wage review). Casual figures add the 25% casual loading.
The John Holland enterprise agreements
Enterprise agreements set rates above the award, with their own classification structures and allowances. Current John Holland agreements in our corpus (14 in total):
- John Holland Pty Ltd Rail New South Wales Agreement 2025 — approved February 2026, nominal expiry 30 January 2030.
- John Holland Pty Ltd and ETU Victorian Rail Infrastructure Enterprise Agreement 2025 – 2029 — approved October 2025, nominal expiry 31 March 2029.
- John Holland Pty Ltd New South Wales Civil Agreement 2024 - 2028 — approved December 2024, nominal expiry 10 December 2028.
- John Holland Pty Ltd WA Rail Agreement 2025 — approved August 2026, nominal expiry 24 August 2028.
- John Holland Queensland QTMP Building Project Agreement 2024-2028 — approved June 2024, nominal expiry 2 July 2028.
- John Holland Pty Ltd and Gamuda trading as Gamuda (Australia) Branch Joint Venture / AWU & CFMMEU M1 Project Civil Works Project Greenfields Agreement 2023-2027 — approved November 2023, nominal expiry 20 November 2027.
- John Holland Pty Ltd WA Rail Plant Services Agreement 2023 — approved August 2023, nominal expiry 16 August 2027.
- John Holland Pty Ltd / CFMEU Collective Agreement 2024-2027 — approved July 2024, nominal expiry 4 July 2027.
Plus 6 more — search "John Holland" in our agreements database.
We don't reproduce agreement dollar figures here — the agreement covering your site, state and stream is the document to read. Find your agreement, then your classification, then your pay point, and compare it with your payslip. The award tables on this page are the floor every one of these agreements must beat.
Construction pay issues worth checking on any payslip
General award-compliance issues that come up across the construction sector. This is a checklist for your own payslip, not a finding about John Holland:
- Site allowances, tool and travel allowances missed from the agreement.
- RDOs and the 36-hour week not honoured on projects that use them.
- Wet-weather and inclement-weather pay withheld.
- Wrong CW level for the tickets and skills actually used.
What to do if your pay looks wrong
Match your payslip to your classification in the agreement (or the award tables above), and price any gap with our back-pay calculator. Raise it in writing with payroll or your manager first — most underpayments are fixed at that step. Unresolved, the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) recovers underpayments at no cost, up to six years back, and your union can run the claim for you. Not sure which instrument covers you? Ask our AI advisor with your role and location.
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FairWork Mate is an independent Australian publisher of workplace-rights information. Our content is prepared with AI assistance and draws on primary sources — the Fair Work Act, modern awards, and Fair Work Commission and Fair Work Ombudsman material. It is general information, not legal advice.