The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is the collective voice of Australian trade unions has declared war on the increasing casualisation of the Australian workforce which they claim is being brought on by the rise of ‘fake’ casual roles.
Crack Down on “Fake” Casuals – The ACTU is arguing that employers are calling workers casuals when in fact their working arrangements are more reflective of a permanent arrangement. That is they suggest that many casual employees have regular and systematic hours of work instead of being engaged on an ad hoc basis which is what is expected of casual employment.
These claims by the ACTU come on the back of the Fair Work Commission granting casual employees the right under 85 modern awards to request permanent employment if they work regular hours for 12 months. The Fair Work Commission has also varied the casual and part-time employment clauses in 11 modern awards with these changes coming into effect from the 1 January 2018. These changes have affected issues such as overtime and minimum work engagement period among other things. The sectors that have been impacted include the hospitality, retail, transport, health and beauty and the social, community, home care and disability services industries.
The ACTU does not believe that these changes are enough to combat the issues they believe surround casual employment in Australia and want to go one step further and are requesting that a definition of casual employment be added into the Fair Work Act 2009. They are also seeking that casual employees to be given the option of converting to a permanent position after 6 months of permanent work with the same employer.
Given the current spotlight on casual employment in Australia it is now more important then ever that you understand the entitlements of your causal workforce and your responsibilities to them. For guidance and support in understanding these entitlements and responsibilities contact ABILITY GROUP.