CASUAL LABOR – AUSTRALIA

Business blues over IR shake-up bill

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Geoff Chambers
The Australian – Page: 2 : 8-Nov-23

The federal government continues to attract scrutiny over its compromise agreement with the Australian Hotels Association regarding the casual employment provisions of the Closing Loopholes Bill. The deal has been criticised by Restaurant & Catering Australia, the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia and the Minerals Council of Australia. They have released legal advice from Corrs Chambers Westgarth which suggests that, despite the amendments, employers that breach the new definition of a casual could still incur existing penalties.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN HOTELS ASSOCIATION, RESTAURANT AND CATERING INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA INCORPORATED, COUNCIL OF SMALL BUSINESS ORGANISATIONS OF AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MINERALS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA

Labor mulls IR relief amid employer fury

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan, Glen Norris
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 26-Jul-23

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has indicated that the federal government may be open to exempting small businesses from its plans to allow casual workers to switch to permanent employment after six months in a job. Independent senator Jacqui Lambie has expressed concern about the potential impact of the casual labour reforms on small businesses, noting that many are already struggling in the wake of the pandemic, natural disasters and the cost-of-living crisis. Harvey Norman chairman Gerry Harvey contends that the proposed reforms do not make sense, as businesses may offset their increased costs by downsizing their workforce. He adds that most of the retailer’s casual staff prefer the increased flexibility compared with permanent employment.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN

Casual employment at 10-year low

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Stephen Lunn
The Australian – Page: 4 : 17-Jul-23

The Australian Industry Group has released a report which shows that the proportion of casual employees in the workforce has fallen to a decade-low of just 22.1 per cent. The Ai Group says the report refutes the union movement’s claim that the Australian workforce is becoming increasingly casualised, noting that the proportion of casual workers had remained relatively steady at between 23.5 per cent and 25.5 per cent in the years immediately prior to the pandemic. The report also notes that casual work is skewed toward younger Australians.

CORPORATES
THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

NAB facing criminal charges for failing to pay casuals entitlements

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Charlotte Grieve
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 26-Oct-21

National Australia Bank has been accused of allegedly violating Victorian laws over its failure to pay long service leave entitlements to casual employees. Victoria’s recently established Wage Inspectorate has filed criminal charges against NAB, while the bank has filed a counter-claim in the Federal Court over the issue. NAB executive Susan Ferrier notes it does not provide casual workers with long service leave under enterprise agreements that have been in place for 20 years, while she says the NAB does not believe casual workers are not covered by state laws for long service leave.

CORPORATES
NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, VICTORIA. WAGES INSPECTORATE

Miners prefer casual jobs for loading

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 14-Jul-21

Representatives of labour hire firms have appeared before the Senate inquiry into job security. One Key Resources MD Ben Lewis said that less than one per cent of its workforce of about 900 asks to convert from casual to permanent employment each year, attributing this to the higher rate of pay when the casual loading is taken into account. He added that a similar proportion of workers opt to switch from permanent to casual employment. Chandler Macleod’s chief people officer Mark Graham also said that many of its casual workers have rejected an offer of permanent employment.

CORPORATES
ONE KEY RESOURCES PTY LTD, CHANDLER MACLEOD GROUP LIMITED

Workers in private sector turn their backs on unions

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ewin Hannan, Stephen Lunn
The Weekend Australian – Page: 2 : 12-Dec-20

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that just 9.2 per cent of workers in the private sector are now members of unions, down from 12.1 per cent in 2014. In percentage terms, union membership in the public sector has fallen from 39.6 per cent to 36.8 per cent in the last six years; however, the number of union members has actually risen from 570,00 to 710,000 over this period. The ABS figures also show that casual workers were the hardest hit during the downturn in the labour market in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

IR reforms could save billions in back pay

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 2-Dec-20

The federal government’s industrial relations omnibus bill will be put before parliament before it rises for the year. The bill is expected to be discussed at a cabinet meeting on 2 December, along with a proposed legislative response to the Workpac v Rossato case. The Federal Court ruled that casual staff who work "regular and predictable" hours are entitled to benefits such as paid annual leave in addition to a casual loading. The government is believed to be considering reforms that would allow employers to use a casual worker’s 25 per cent loading to help offset any retrospective leave liability.

CORPORATES
FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Collective bargaining win a big step for gig workers

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 10 : 28-Oct-20

University of Sydney labour law professor Shae McCrystal has welcomed a decision to grant a class exemption for small businesses and franchisees to collectively negotiate with suppliers and customers. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s ruling will allow independent contractors and gig economy workers to engage in collective bargaining. However, the Transport Workers’ Union contends that the ruling will not protect gig economy workers from being sacked by companies such as Uber.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY, TRANSPORT WORKERS’ UNION, UBER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Federal Court’s ruling on casual employees set to have impact on hundreds of thousands of businesses says Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Michele Levine
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 4-Jun-20

The business community and union movement must come together and reach an equitable solution about how to handle the implications of the decision in the interests of a healthy Australian jobs market. The biggest direct impact is that businesses will be deterred from hiring casual employees. Businesses mentioned ‘double-dipping’ and that ‘casual workers already get a 25% loading for sick pay and annual leave’. In addition as many as 123,000 businesses say they will be ‘forced to close’. The reluctance to hire casual employees is a troubling development in an economy which has experienced over a million job losses due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has flagged working with unions and businesses to re-boot the Australian economy after the pandemic, but the impetus must be driven by business and union leaders to succeed.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED,AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

794,000 businesses affected by casual employee ruling

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 3-Jun-20

A special Roy Morgan SMS survey of 881 Australian businesses shows that 34.5% are set to be affected by the Federal Court’s ruling on the entitlements of casual employees. Most worryingly, as many as 123,000 (5.5%) businesses say they will be ‘forced to close’ because of the ruling. A majority of small businesses (54.5%) with 5-19 employees and medium businesses (54.5%) with 20-199 employees say they will be affected by the ruling in some way. Over a third of large businesses (36%) with 200+ employees and just under a third of micro businesses (32%) with 1-5 employees say they will be affected by the ruling in some way. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine said the Federal Court’s ruling on casual employees has the potential to have a significant impact on hundreds of thousands of Australian businesses.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA