Congress to Begin Debate over Casual Employment

Congress and Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) are about to tackle one of the biggest casual employment phenomenon in the world, as a result of ACTU “insecure jobs” campaign.

„I require a full time worker for all aspects of irrigation and landscaping. Must have current drivers license and and own ABN,“ this is one straight off copy from the 182 contractor offers on Gumtree. Cleaners, security guards, factory workers, construction labourers are most popular occupations amongst those advertisements.

Contracting full time workers is sham contracting and punishable, but those offers are still widely public on company websites. Most of them are full time job offers on a contractor basis to avoid entitlements afforded to full time or permanent workers. Potential employees work side-by-side with full time workers who get sick leave while ABN holders don’t have the security of knowing whether they’re going to work the next day.

„I came to Australia to work on hospitality field. I took on a course in hospitality but couldn’t land on a job,” says Sita from India who works in Brisbane as a “contractor” for a cleaning company. She goes out with a supervisor and 3 other cleaners to clean about 4 houses every workday. She won’t get paid for the hours commuting from site to site and cleaning and transport expenses are deducted from the wage.

On site she can hardly grab a drink: “I need to keep my husband’s student visa going so I can work, that’s my visa condition” she explains why she needs as many hours as she can get. By the end of the day she reveles a secret: “I’m looking for another job, just don’t tell anyone!”

Today, 40% of workers in Australia are casuals, on short-term contracts, in labour hire, or as ABN contractors. Casual employees shouldn’t work on a regular basis, but some “casual” workers have been working full time for years. It makes it tough for working families to plan for their future when they cannot rely on regular incomes, but have rising household costs and are shouldering more and more household debt.

“We believe that casual workers need more protections and we need to tackle sham contracting and we also need to provide more protection to people who get their work through labour hire,” says Rebecca Tucker about what to put in front of the congress.

Foreign workers unaware of the risks

Australia’s casual hire policy is unique in developed world countries which is why European backpackers could be in for a shock: “I came to Australia on an arrangement to work on a farm, but when I got here the farmer didn’t want to hear from me,” says Frank from Germany now volunteering in a bible school.

We believe there needs to be changes to the FWA to give people more protection, including better access to leave entitlements.

However, Fair Work Ombudsman staff assures they devote considerable resources to protecting foreign workers’ workplace rights because „we are conscious that foreign workers in Australia can be vulnerable because they are often not fully aware of their workplace rights under Australian laws,“ says their representative to Autralian Times. „In the 2010-11 financial year, the Fair Work Ombudsman recovered approximately $500,000 for more than 500 foreign workers in Australia who had been underpaid.“

America does have some sort of casual form, but seriously regulated. Jamaica acknowledges casual employment, but both full-time and “casual” workers are entitled to holidays and sick leave with pay.

Easier to be on the doll

Anna lives in Sydney suburb near the beach. She used to go for a swim and a jog but now rarely goes to the beach, or anywhere for that matter. She is 30 years old and has been on welfare since she was 19: “I travelled around a bit on the doll and later went on to pension,” she alleged she’s mentally disturbed and can’t work. She has no idea when she’ll get back to workforce, because she finds it hard to get full time work and leaving her entitlements for insecure work is just out of the question.

Jobs families can rely on

“There are a lot of recommendations and Congress will commit the union movement to a campaigning to improve job security for people who are unfortunate enough to find themselves in insecure work,” says ACTU representative.

Among other things union believes workers should have fair and predictable pay and hours of work, fair and predictable pay and hours of work, a say about how, where, and when they work, and to be consulted about change; access to important conditions like annual leave, paid sick leave, overtime, penalty rates and long service leave, protection from unfair dismissal.

“If this is left unaddressed the pattern will continue, leaving less and less workers with protections, the ability to plan their lives or even take out a mortgage or go on a holiday,” she adds.