Key Points
- Employers will have to offer casual workers who work regular hours a permanent job.
- About 850,000 people will be covered by the new legislation.
- The move will be part of a broader reform of industrial relations to be adopted this year.
Employment Minister Tony Burke has unveiled reforms that will force Australian bosses to offer casual staff who work regular hours a permanent job.
"Two years ago there was a change in the Parliament that said effectively whatever the contract says, if the contract says you're a casual, then it doesn't matter how you roster or what's actually going on," Burke told ABC Radio National on Monday.
"We want to go back to the objective definition," he said. "Effectively it's [the] 'what's really going on' definition.
"At the moment you can be working a full-time roster for a year and you still get classed as a casual."
More than 850,000 people will be covered by the reforms. Workers will not have to take up the offer and can remain casual employees to continue receiving loading on their hourly rates. Burke said he expects the majority of those affected by the proposed reforms will remain casual employees.
Source: SBS News
According to Burke, the changes will not deter employers from taking on casual workers.
"If an employer has hours that are in fact permanent hours, then there is no loss to the employer in the actual total dollar figure (because) they don't pay the (casual) loading, they pay leave instead," he said.
"There's no actual cost to the economy here and, for example, there is a job that isn't ongoing or it's a job where the hours are not guaranteed, then in those circumstances it would never have satisfied the test anyway."
The changes will attempt to close loopholes for employers seeking to avoid paying permanent entitlements to an ongoing workforce.
Employment Minister Tony Burke. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch
"They're being used as though they're permanent workers and the employer is double dipping, taking all the advantages of a reliable workforce and not providing any of the job security in return."
Businesses will not have to back-pay employees for any entitlements gained by moving to permanent employment.
Unions, business association respond
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) and Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) have both reacted to the proposed changes.
"People who are working regular jobs with regular hours deserve regular rights," ACTU secretary Sally McManus said.
"The government is leaving it in the hands of the worker to decide, if they're working regular hours, they want to be a permanent employee, get sick leave and annual leave or whether they want to keep their loading and remain as a casual.
"I don't think that it could be fairer than that."
ACCI chief executive Andrew McKellar said there is already "very significant certainty" for Australian businesses and employees on the definition of casual employment. "The government is seeking to unpick that certainty," he said.
Independent senator Jacqui Lambie said she supported the proposal as Australia was not attracting the same number of workers it did before the COVID-19 pandemic.
"Businesses are doing it tough trying to find employees still so we need to fix that issue," she told Sky News.
Same job, same pay
The government is also moving to enact same job, same pay laws to stop employers paying labour hire cheaper rates than the awards they have negotiated with their workers.
Burke rejected suggestions it would lead to employers having to pay people with decades of experience the same rate as the new kid on the block.
"I can categorically rule that out," he told Sky News on Sunday.
"What I'm wanting to close is a loophole where an employer has already agreed that for a particular worker with a particular level of experience there should be a minimum rate of pay and then labour hire is used to undercut the rate of pay they just agreed to."
