Flat Rate vs Hourly Rate for Tradies

Two trade job ads can look $6 an hour apart and pay the same, or look the same and pay very differently. The headline rate tells you almost nothing until you know what it has to cover.

The three ways trades get paid

Hourly plus penalties. A base hourly rate, with overtime, allowances and penalty rates paid on top as you work them. The more hours, the more each extra hour is worth.

Flat rate. One hourly rate that is meant to absorb some or all of those extras. You get the same rate at hour 50 as at hour 8. Simple, and often higher on paper.

Salary. A fixed annual figure. Under awards that allow annualised wage arrangements, the employer must reconcile what they paid against what the award would have paid for the hours you actually worked, and make up any shortfall. A flat rate or salary can't legally leave you behind your minimum entitlements, but "not below the minimum" and "a good deal" are not the same thing.

Worked example

Here is a hypothetical comparison, using rates similar to roles HJ Recruitment is recruiting for in Queensland in October 2026. Assume a 50-hour week and, for illustration, overtime at time and a half after 38 hours. Your award or agreement sets the real overtime rules.

• Offer A: $48/hr plus overtime - 38 hours at $48 ($1,824) plus 12 hours at $72 ($864) = $2,688 a week
• Offer B: $54/hr flat - 50 hours at $54 = $2,700 a week

At 50 hours, almost identical. At 40 hours, Offer B is well ahead. At 60 hours, Offer A wins. The right choice depends on the hours you'll really work, not the hours in the ad.

Questions that turn a rate into a number

1. How many hours a week, on average, across the year? Not the best week. The average.
2. What does the flat rate absorb? Overtime? Travel time? On-call? Tool allowance?
3. Is there a local loading or site allowance? One Emerald electrician role we're recruiting for pays $54-62/hr flat, plus $6/hr for local candidates. That's over $11,000 a year on a 38-hour week.
4. Is a vehicle included, and can you take it home? Our post on what a service vehicle is worth in a trades package puts a dollar figure on it.
5. How are public holidays and RDOs handled?

Red flags

• A flat rate with no explanation of what it covers
• "Salary" with no indication of expected hours
• Unwilling to put the rate and what it covers in writing

The short version

Ask for the expected weekly hours and what the rate covers, then multiply. Compare the weekly figures, not the hourly ones. If the numbers are close, the deciding factors are the vehicle, the travel and who you'll work for.

HJ Recruitment places permanent tradespeople with Queensland employers, and we tell you what a rate covers before you apply. See the roles we're recruiting for now, or get in touch.

Sources- Fair Work Ombudsman - Annualised wages and salaries- HJ Recruitment - Current jobs (rates as advertised, October 2026)