The Part-Time Wife

I’ve changed projects… Actually, I’ve been here for several months.

It started with a simple phone call and ended in a mass of tears. Not because I was being given an awesome opportunity to manage my own team but because I was leaving my people behind.

I hadn’t expected to find people who spoke my language on this project when I arrived in June last year. I hadn’t expected to love spending time with them and I certain didn’t expect to miss them either.

The new project is in the project development stage where we are nutting out our relationship with the client. We are defining roles, writing documents, putting in place systems to guide our operations. This has been one of the best aspects of the project so far is talking through opportunities to improve on previous successes.

The transition has been interesting. I’ve been working Monday to Friday, living in Brisbane, not my home town, relying on the kindness of friends who let me sleep in their spare rooms. Hopefully, we’ll head out to site soon and my FIFO life will return to normal.

x S

Image: Roanoke-Chowan Community College

My roster is determined by my employer, usually to align with our client’s roster. Different sites have different rosters.  Rosters will also differ from employer to employer. I’ve worked a number of different roster schedules on FIFO. There are so many combinations. Some are determined in days such as the 8:6 or 10:4, others in weeks like 3:1 or 2:2. Some rosters include travel in and out on the employers time, others travel on your own time.

I’ve worked three different rosters. I started with a 2:2 even time roster with two weeks at work and two weeks at home. This was a great roster with heaps of time to myself. I was able to spend time with my family and spend time on projects around the house. I moved to a 3:1 project (see here and here) and then transitioned to a 19:9 roster, which allowed for two weekends a month at home but not as much free time to spend on my own projects.

My latest roster is a 10:4 split – ten days at work and four days at home. This is a roster typically reserved for management positions to ensure that you aren’t away from site for extended periods. It has its advantages of being home every second weekend but it makes it hard to settle into a routine. I have to keep up the early mornings when I’m at home otherwise it is too difficult to recover. It also means that I’m not home for Tuesday night trivia, ever! I usually have very little enthusiasm for any jobs around the house and spend the majority of time socializing.

Keep in mind that our working day is 12 hours long, working seven days a week, including public holidays. I earn salary which means I earn the same amount every week regardless of weekend or public holiday penalty rates. The crew work under an Enterprise Bargaining Agreement so they get penalty rates and paid for stand down days like where we can’t work due to rain. They also get built-in increases to their pay rates but they only get paid for the hours they work. So if you work an even time 2:2 roster, you’ll only get paid for six month of the year.

Last week, due to the Anzac Day public holiday, the crew earned more in a week than I did in a fortnight. I can’t tell you how much that stings when despite my university degrees and ten years’ experience, I earn less than a Trades Assistant with six month experience and no industry tickets.

Keep both the roster and the rate of pay in mind when you are considering wages or salary options provided by your employer.  On even time, 2:2 might be better but on 3:1, wages may be more lucrative.

Any questions, please let me know in the comments below…

x S