9 Day Fortnight Calculator: RDO and Daily Hours.
Work out how long each day is on a 9-day fortnight or a 19-day month, how much time you bank towards your rostered day off, and how many RDOs a year the cycle gives you. At 38 hours a week, a 9-day fortnight is 76 hours over 9 days: 8 hours 26 minutes 40 seconds a day.
Your hours and cycle
Here's your entitlement
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| Component | Formula | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Ordinary hours in the cycle | 38 × 2 weeks | 76 h |
| Weekdays in the cycle | 5 × 2 | 10 |
| Days worked in the cycle | - | 9 |
| Hours worked each day | 76 ÷ 9 | 8.4444 h (8h 26m 40s) |
| Hours paid each day, averaged | 76 ÷ 10 | 7.6 h (7h 36m) |
| RDO accrual per worked day | 8.4444 - 7.6 | 0.8444 h (50m 40s) |
| RDOs per cycle | 10 - 9 | 1 |
| Hours banked per cycle | 0.8444 × 9 | 7.6 h |
| Accrued so far (0 days worked) | 0.8444 × 0 | 0 h |
| Cycles in 52 weeks | 52 ÷ 2, rounded down | 26 |
| RDOs a year | 1 × 26 | 26 |
Disclaimer: This tool does not constitute legal or financial advice. It assumes even working days and a Monday to Friday cycle. Your award or enterprise agreement sets how RDOs accrue, when they are taken and whether accrued time is paid out, so confirm your own clause before relying on a figure. For official guidance, visit the Fair Work Ombudsman.
How to calculate a 9-day fortnight
A 9-day fortnight keeps your ordinary hours and fits them into 9 days instead of 10. The tenth weekday is your rostered day off. So the only real question is how long the other nine days have to be, and how much of each one is being saved up to pay for the day off.
Daily hours. Fortnightly ordinary hours ÷ 9. At 38 hours a week: 76 ÷ 9 = 8.4444 hours, which is 8h 26m 40s.
Banked each day. Daily hours minus fortnightly hours ÷ 10. At 38 hours: 8.4444 - 7.6 = 0.8444 hours (50m 40s).
Check. 0.8444 × 9 = 7.6 hours, exactly one 7.6 hour day.
| Ordinary hours a week | Hours a fortnight | Each of the 9 days | Banked per worked day |
|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | 76 | 8h 26m 40s | 50m 40s |
| 37.5 | 75 | 8h 20m | 50m |
| 36 | 72 | 8h | 48m |
| 35 | 70 | 7h 46m 40s | 46m 40s |
Even days assumed. The 38 hour row is the arrangement in clause 12.1(c) of the Journalists Published Media Award 2020, "76 ordinary hours over 9 days in a 10 day work cycle". The 37.5 hour row matches the 8 hours 20 minutes a day in clause 13.1(d)(ii) of the Electrical Power Industry Award 2020.
How to calculate a rostered day off
A paid RDO in a 19-day month works like this. You are paid the same hours every weekday, but you work longer than that on the days you are rostered on, and the difference is held over to pay for the day you are not. The Building and Construction General On-site Award puts the whole calculation in two sentences.
"Ordinary working hours will be 8 hours in duration each day, of which 0.4 of one hour of each day worked will accrue towards an RDO and 7.6 hours will be paid. An employee will therefore accrue 7.6 hours towards an RDO each 19 days of ordinary hours worked."
In general terms: accrual per worked day = (cycle hours ÷ days worked) minus (cycle hours ÷ weekdays in the cycle). For a 19-day month that is 152 ÷ 19 = 8, minus 152 ÷ 20 = 7.6, which leaves 0.4 of an hour. The Plumbing and Fire Sprinklers, Joinery and Timber awards state the same 0.4 hour figure. The Waste Management, Education Support and Teachers awards write it as 24 minutes, which is the same 0.4 of an hour.
9-day fortnight or 19-day month
Both arrangements average 38 hours a week. The difference is how often the day off comes around, and how long you work to earn it.
| At 38 hours a week | 9-day fortnight | 19-day month |
|---|---|---|
| Cycle | 9 of 10 weekdays, 2 weeks | 19 of 20 weekdays, 4 weeks |
| Each worked day | 8h 26m 40s | 8h |
| Banked per worked day | 50m 40s | 24m |
| RDOs in 52 weeks, before any award cap | 26 | 13 |
Some awards cap the yearly count. The Education Support and Teachers awards allow no more than 12 RDOs in any 12 months of consecutive employment (clauses 14.8(e) and A.2.6).
RDOs are not a National Employment Standard
The phrase "rostered day off" does not appear in the National Employment Standards or the modern awards part of the Fair Work Act. What the Act does is set 38 hours as the most a full-time employee can be required to work in a week unless the additional hours are reasonable (section 62(1)), and let awards and agreements average hours over a longer period. An RDO cycle is one way of doing that averaging.
"A modern award or enterprise agreement may include terms providing for the averaging of hours of work over a specified period. The average weekly hours over the period must not exceed: (a) for a full-time employee - 38 hours; or (b) for an employee who is not a full-time employee - the lesser of: (i) 38 hours; and (ii) the employee's ordinary hours of work in a week."
Section 63(2) lets the average go above that figure only if the excess hours are reasonable. Because the right comes from the award or agreement and not the Act, so do the details: whether the cycle is the default or needs agreement, whether RDOs can be banked, what happens on a public holiday, and whether accrued time is paid when you leave. The table further down sets those out for each preset in the calculator.
The 9-day fortnight in modern awards
The arrangement is written into industry awards as well as agreements. Three examples, each read from the award text:
- Journalists Published Media Award 2020, clause 12.1(c): "76 ordinary hours over 9 days in a 10 day work cycle", as one of four bases. Clause 12.2 says the arrangement at each workplace is agreed between the employer and the majority of employees affected.
- Electrical Power Industry Award 2020, clause 13.1(d)(ii): "a 9 day fortnight - 8 hours 20 minutes per day with a rostered day off", on ordinary hours that average 37.5 a week (clause 13.1(b)). Nine days of 8 hours 20 minutes is 75 hours, which is exactly two 37.5 hour weeks.
- Water Industry Award 2020, clause 13.2(e)(ii), with the same 8 hours 20 minutes. This one does not add up, as the note below explains.
The Water Industry Award figure is 75 hours, not 76. Clause 13.1 sets ordinary hours at 38 a week, and clause 13.2(a) averages them over 28 days. Clause 13.2(e)(ii) then lists "a 9 day fortnight - 8 hours and 20 minutes per day with a rostered day off". Nine days of 8 hours 20 minutes is 75 hours, while two 38 hour weeks are 76. So 8 hours 20 minutes is not the 38 hour 9-day fortnight day. The even figure is 8h 26m 40s. If you work this pattern under the Water Industry Award, ask how your roster reaches the 38 hour average.
An enterprise agreement can include averaging terms too (section 63(1)), so a 9-day fortnight can also come from an agreement that applies to your workplace. Not every award leaves room for it: the Building and Construction Award's alternative to the RDO cycle keeps ordinary hours to no more than 8 in any one day (clause 16.8), which a 38 hour 9-day fortnight would exceed.
RDO rules in the awards with a preset
The calculator only offers a preset where the award itself states the daily accrual. All seven use 8 hour days, 19 worked days in a 4 week cycle and 7.6 hours banked per cycle. The rules around that accrual differ.
| Award | Accrual clause | Banking or yearly cap | When employment ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Building & Construction (MA000020) | cl 16.2 | By agreement, up to 5 accrued RDOs banked at any time (cl 16.5(a)). | If employment is terminated for any reason, you are paid for accrued and banked RDOs not yet taken, plus the hours and minutes accrued towards the next RDO (cl 16.7). |
| Plumbing & Fire Sprinklers (MA000036) | cl 15.2(b) | Accumulation of RDOs is a matter the employer and a majority of employees may agree (cl 15.4(b)(v)). | Any proportion of money accrued towards an RDO is paid as hours worked when calculating entitlements due on termination (cl 15.5(a)(v)). |
| Joinery (MA000029) | cl 16.2 | No banking limit is set in cl 16 or 17. | Accrued pro rata RDO entitlements for an incomplete 19 day cycle are paid on termination (cl 17.5). |
| Waste Management (MA000043) | cl 13.3(a)(v) | Up to 10 RDOs may be accumulated over a 40 week period, after which the employer may direct you to take them (cl 13.3(a)(ii)). | RDOs taken in advance at the start of a cycle and not yet covered by credits may be deducted from money owed on termination (cl 13.3(a)(iii)). |
| Education Support (MA000076) | cl 14.8(b) | No more than 12 RDOs in any 12 months of consecutive employment (cl 14.8(e)). | If employment is terminated in the course of a 4 week cycle, you are paid a pro rata amount for the time accrued (cl 14.8(g)). |
| Teachers (MA000077) | cl A.2.2 | No more than 12 RDOs in any 12 months of consecutive employment (cl A.2.6). | If employment is terminated in the course of a 4 week cycle, you are paid a pro rata amount for the time accrued (cl A.2.8). |
| Timber (MA000071) | cl 18.5(b) | By agreement, up to 5 days or shifts accumulated (cl 18.3). | This calculator does not quote a termination rule for this award. Read the award text before relying on a payout. |
Clause text read from each award on library.fairwork.gov.au on 14 September 2026. Pick an award in the calculator to see its paid leave and public holiday rules as well.
Working on your RDO
If you are asked to work your rostered day off, the award decides what it is worth. Under the Building and Construction Award you are paid the Saturday penalty rates and keep the accrued RDO (clause 16.6(b)). The Joinery Award also pays Saturday rates, but you do not get a day off in addition (clause 17.6). The Plumbing and Fire Sprinklers Award pays the weekend or public holiday penalty rates on top of RDO accrual (clause 15.5(b)). The penalty rates calculator prices those hours for your award and classification.
Part-time employees
For a part-time employee, section 63(1)(b) caps the averaged hours at the lesser of 38 and their own ordinary weekly hours. Awards then decide whether an RDO accrues at all. Under the Building and Construction Award a part-timer may be paid for actual hours worked and accrue no RDO time (clause 16.9(b)), or agree with the employer to accrue pro rata RDOs under clause 16.2 (clause 16.9(c)). Enter your own weekly hours in the calculator with no preset to see the pro rata figures.
Related calculators and guides
- Time off in lieu, RDOs and banked hours, for how RDOs compare with TOIL and other banked time.
- Penalty rates calculator for hours worked on an RDO, a weekend or a public holiday.
- Annual leave on a 38-hour week, which is 152 hours a year whichever way the week is rostered.
- Annual leave hours to days calculator to see a leave balance in days when your working day is longer than 7.6 hours.
- Final pay calculator for everything owed when a job ends.
- Modern awards by industry, with the hours and RDO clauses for each award.
9-day fortnight and RDO questions.
What people ask before they sign up for longer days.
How to calculate a 9 day fortnight?
How to calculate a rostered day off?
Is a 9-day fortnight equivalent to a 38-hour week?
Do you get paid out RDOs when you resign?
What is the difference between an RDO and annual leave?
Where these figures come from.
The daily hours and accrual figures are arithmetic on the hours you enter: cycle hours divided by days worked, minus cycle hours divided by weekdays in the cycle. Nothing is rounded until it is displayed. The averaging rule and the 38 hour cap are sections 62(1) and 63 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Compilation No. 73, 7 July 2026), and annual leave is sections 87 and 90.
Award presets and clause quotes were read from the award text on library.fairwork.gov.au on 14 September 2026: Building and Construction General On-site MA000020 cl 16, Plumbing and Fire Sprinklers MA000036 cl 15, Joinery and Building Trades MA000029 cl 16 and 17, Waste Management MA000043 cl 13.3, Educational Services (Schools) General Staff MA000076 cl 14.8, Educational Services (Teachers) MA000077 Schedule A.2 and Timber Industry MA000071 cl 18. The 9-day fortnight clauses are Journalists Published Media MA000067 cl 12.1(c), Electrical Power Industry MA000088 cl 13.1(d) and Water Industry MA000113 cl 13.2(e).