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What is an RDO?
In Australia, a rostered day off (RDO) is a day in a schedule, a roster period, or a regular work cycle that an employee is scheduled to not work.
RDOs are typically used in industries or workplaces where employees work longer hours on the days they are scheduled to work, accumulating enough time to take an entire day off while still fulfilling their contractual work hours over a defined period, such as a week or a month.
RDO schemes (also known as 'RDO arrangements') can vary significantly between workplaces depending on industry standards or the terms laid out in employment contracts and enterprise agreements. RDOs are common in construction, manufacturing, and some government sectors because they provide workers with flexibility, and help employers to manage workloads.
Let's look at some examples of common RDO schemes.