A South Australian truckie has hit out at a legal loophole that means transport companies only have to pay their employees superannuation based on 38 hours a week of work – even though drivers might be putting in twice that number of hours.
Bennen Lapworth, 42, drives an average of 70 to 72 hours a week, doing a mix of interstate and local runs.
He told Big Rigs that he only receives about $150 a week in super, but he should be getting closer to double that amount if it was paid out based on actual hours worked.
“An extra $150 a week might not sound like a lot, especially if I’m not getting it for 20 years or whenever, but it really adds up,” he said.
“I worked 14 hours yesterday, 14 hours today, and I’ll probably work ten hours tomorrow.
“Show me a truckie who only works eight hours a day – it would be pretty hard to find one.”
The Gawler man said he would like to retire between the ages of 65 and 70, but he’s worried he’s not going to have enough money in his super fund to afford it.
“The cost of living is through the roof right now,” he said. “I know I could put more of my wages straight into my super, but it’s very hard to save that money.
“Unfortunately for me, I lost nearly $50k in superannuation during the pandemic because I had set my fund to aggressive investment, and with everything else that was going on I wasn’t paying enough attention.
“When that happened, I started really looking into my super and found out there was this law.
“Truck drivers are really missing out – we’re working twice as much as employees in other industries, but that’s not reflected in our super.”
For employees covered by both the Road Transport and Distribution Award 2020 and the Road Transport (Long Distance Operations) Award 2020, “ordinary hours” of work are considered to be 38 hours. In some cases, ordinary hours may be determined as an average of up to 28 consecutive days.
According to the Australian Tax Office, ordinary time earnings (OTE) are defined in the same way as other employees, and the compulsory 11.5 per cent super will only be paid on those hours – and not any “overtime”.
For long distance drivers, for example, you can calculate super guarantee using an hourly driving rate method, a cents-per-kilometre method, or the minimum guaranteed wage method (but you can’t use this method if the driver’s wages are more than the minimum under one of the other two methods).
Lapworth continued: “There are a few companies out there who will pay super based on all the hours that you work, but they often only pay the drivers at the award rate of $25 an hour.
“Most companies pay above the award rate, so you’re faced with making that sacrifice of only getting the 38 hours of super.”
He has nothing against his employer, who he preferred not to name.
“I think they’re a good company to work for, it’s not about them,” he said. “I’ve been in the transport industry for most of my life, and I know there are so many other drivers who have put in 140-odd hours a fortnight on the road, for decades. Considering how much we work, we’re getting such a small amount to retire on.”
Steve Shearer, the executive director of the South Australian Road Transport Association (SARTA), said the super issue for truck drivers has “blown up” several times in the past.
“There is a provision that was put into the Long-Distance Award for truck drivers a few years back, that said superannuation is paid on ordinary time hours of 38 hours a week,” he said.
“That includes a 30 per cent disability allowance and a 20 per cent overtime component. The tax office tried to argue that ordinary time earnings means what they ordinarily earn, and we said no.
“It means what you get paid for your ordinary time, not your overtime, because overtime is not guaranteed.”
Lawyer Adam Cockayne told Big Rigs that overtime hours should generally be paid at a higher rate than ordinary hours.
“If there is no difference in the hourly rate, it might be argued that all the hours are ordinary hours and form part of the Ordinary Time Earnings,” he said.
“If there is any doubt, the award or the contract should be checked.”