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Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australia. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 2, 2019
Flex time all Universities
Monday, September 4, 2017
The costs of a casual job are now outweighing any pay benefits
Low wages growth has been a spectre hanging around the Australian economy for some time. In our series What We Earn we unpick the causes for this and why some workers might be feeling it more than others.
Workers aren’t being compensated as much as they should be for precarious work in casual positions.
One in four Australian employees today is a casual worker. Among younger workers (15-24 year olds) the numbers are higher still: more than half of them are casuals.
These jobs come without some of the benefits of permanent employment, such as paid annual holiday leave and sick leave. In exchange for giving up these entitlements, casual workers are supposed to receive a higher hourly rate of pay – known as a casual “loading”.
But the costs of casual work are now outweighing the benefits in wages.
Costs and benefits of casual work
Casual jobs offer flexibility, but also come with costs. For workers, apart from missing out on paid leave, there are other compromises: less predictable working hours and earnings, and the prospect of dismissal without notice. Uncertainty about their future employment can hinder casual workers in other ways, such as making family arrangements, getting a mortgage, and juggling education with work.Not surprisingly, casual workers have lower expectations about keeping their current job. For example the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) found 19% expect to leave their job within 12 months, compared to 7% of other workers. Casuals are also much less likely to get work-related training, which limits their opportunities for skills development.
The employers of casual workers also face higher costs. High staff turnover adds to recruitment costs. But perhaps the main cost is the “loading” that casual workers are supposed to be paid on top of their ordinary hourly wage.
Australia’s system of minimum wage awards specifies a casual loading of 25%. So, a casual worker paid under an award should get 25% more for each hour than another worker doing the same job on a permanent basis. In enterprise agreements, the casual loading varies by sector, but tends to be between 15 and 25%.
The practice of paying a casual loading developed for two reasons. One was to provide some compensation for workers missing out on paid leave. The other, quite different, motivation was to make casual employment more expensive and discourage excessive use of it. However this disincentive has not prevented the casual sector of the workforce from growing substantially.
Casual jobs aren’t much better paid
One approach in determining whether casual workers are paid more is simply to compare the hourly wages of casual and “non-casual” (permanent and fixed-term) employees in the same occupations. This can be done using data from the 2016 ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours.We compared median hourly wages for adult non-managerial employees, based on their ordinary earnings and hours of work (i.e. excluding overtime payments). If the median wage for casuals is higher than for non-casuals, there is a casual premium. If the median casual wage is lower, there is a penalty.
The 10 occupations below accounted for over half of all adult casual workers in 2016. In most of these occupations, there is a modest casual wage premium - in the order of 4-5%.
The size of the typical casual wage premium is much smaller, in most cases, than the loadings written into awards and agreements. Only one occupation (school teachers) has a premium (22%) in line with what might be expected.
Three of the 10 largest casual occupations actually penalise this sort of work. And overall for these 10 occupations there is a casual wage penalty of 5%. This method of analysis suggests that few casual workers enjoy substantially higher wages as a trade-off for paid leave.
Taking a closer look involves controlling for a wider range of differences between casual and non-casual workers. One major Australian study in 2005 compared wages after taking account of many factors other than occupation, including age, education, job location, and employer size.
All else equal, it found that part-time, casual workers do receive an hourly wage premium over full-time, permanent workers. The premium is worth around 10%, on average, for men and between 4 and 7% for women.
These results imply that most casual workers (who are in part-time positions) can expect to receive higher hourly wages than comparable employees in full-time, permanent positions. However, the value of the benefit is again found to be less than would be expected, given the larger casual loadings mentioned in awards and agreements.
It seems that while there is some short-term financial benefit to being a casual worker, this advantage is worth less in practice than on paper.
A recent study, using 14 years of data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (HILDA), finds no evidence of any long-term pay benefit for casual workers.
The study’s authors estimate that, among men, there is an average casual wage penalty of 10% - the opposite of what we should see if casual loadings fully offset the foregone leave and insecurity of casual jobs. Among female casual workers, there is also a wage penalty, but this is smaller, at around 4%.
This study also finds that the size of the negative casual wage effect tends to reduce over time for individual workers, bringing them closer to equality with permanent workers. But very few casual workers out-earn permanent workers in the long-term.
Inferior jobs, but fewer alternatives
The evidence on hourly wage differences leads us to conclude that casual workers are not being adequately compensated for the lack of paid leave, or for other forms of insecurity they face. This makes casual jobs a less appealing option for workers.This does not mean that all casual workers dislike their jobs – indeed, many are satisfied. But a clear-eyed look at what these jobs pay suggests their benefits are skewed in favour of employers.
Despite this, the choice for many workers - especially young jobseekers - is increasingly between a casual job or no job at all. Half of employed 15-24 year olds are in casual jobs.
In a labour market characterised by high underemployment and intensifying job competition, young people with little or no work experience are understandably willing to make some sacrifices to get a start in the workforce. The option of “holding out” for a permanent job looks increasingly risky as these opportunities dwindle.Joshua Healy, Senior Research Fellow, Centre for Workplace Leadership, University of Melbourne and Daniel Nicholson, Research Assistant, Industrial Relations, University of Melbourne
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
Friday, June 23, 2017
National Weekend Warriors Day
You’ve
probably seen the news – penalty rates for hospitality, retail and pharmacy
workers could be slashed from July 1.
The good news is we can do something about this if we act now.
An aggressive bosses’ campaign has so far succeeded in creating rules that allow bosses to strip back weekend work protections leaving thousands of Australians at risk of a pay cut they can’t afford and don’t deserve.
These are the people who give up time with their loved ones on weekends and public holidays so that the rest of us can enjoy a meal out, grab some groceries or fill a script when we need to. These are people we know and rely on.
Right now its hospitality, retail and pharmacy workers in the firing line but if we don't take action to change the rules and protect weekend penalty rates, workers in other industries and professions will be next.
The good news is – cuts are not inevitable. Already, thousands of clubs and casino workers have had their weekend penalty rates secured. How have they done it? With YOUR help! The loud and sustained community voice has helped convince employers that cutting weekend pay would be the wrong thing to do.
We know other employers are watching what happens.
That’s why on July 2 hospitality workers are asking the community to stand with them as one so we can ask the local businesses to agree to not cut the wages of their staff.
July 2 is National Weekend Warriors Day, where union members, supporters and people all over the country who don’t want to see cuts to penalty rates are taking action together. You can register online to receive a pack to take into your local club, pub, bar or cafĂ©. The pack contains a letter to the manager or owner, some information for staff and customers and a pledge the business can sign to commit not to cut penalty rates for their staff.
We urge you to sign up now for a pack, to have the conversation and to be part of the action on July 2 when we ask the businesses that we support to do the right thing by the people who work for them.
Let’s stop this attack on wages and the weekend before it goes any further. Go here to be involved.
Together, we can protect penalty rates for all weekend workers.
In solidarity,
Sally McManus
ACTU Secretary
Australian Unions Team
http://www.australianunions.org.au/
The good news is we can do something about this if we act now.
An aggressive bosses’ campaign has so far succeeded in creating rules that allow bosses to strip back weekend work protections leaving thousands of Australians at risk of a pay cut they can’t afford and don’t deserve.
These are the people who give up time with their loved ones on weekends and public holidays so that the rest of us can enjoy a meal out, grab some groceries or fill a script when we need to. These are people we know and rely on.
Right now its hospitality, retail and pharmacy workers in the firing line but if we don't take action to change the rules and protect weekend penalty rates, workers in other industries and professions will be next.
The good news is – cuts are not inevitable. Already, thousands of clubs and casino workers have had their weekend penalty rates secured. How have they done it? With YOUR help! The loud and sustained community voice has helped convince employers that cutting weekend pay would be the wrong thing to do.
We know other employers are watching what happens.
That’s why on July 2 hospitality workers are asking the community to stand with them as one so we can ask the local businesses to agree to not cut the wages of their staff.
July 2 is National Weekend Warriors Day, where union members, supporters and people all over the country who don’t want to see cuts to penalty rates are taking action together. You can register online to receive a pack to take into your local club, pub, bar or cafĂ©. The pack contains a letter to the manager or owner, some information for staff and customers and a pledge the business can sign to commit not to cut penalty rates for their staff.
We urge you to sign up now for a pack, to have the conversation and to be part of the action on July 2 when we ask the businesses that we support to do the right thing by the people who work for them.
Let’s stop this attack on wages and the weekend before it goes any further. Go here to be involved.
Together, we can protect penalty rates for all weekend workers.
In solidarity,
Sally McManus
ACTU Secretary
Australian Unions Team
http://www.australianunions.org.au/
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
Friday, March 27, 2015
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Uni bosses earn 10 times more than their staff
"The chief executives of some Australian universities are getting paid up to 10 times as much as their senior lecturers, with the most generous remuneration package last year reaching almost $1.2 million."
Monday, June 3, 2013
It is National TAFE Day
Hi Everyone,
There are hundreds of activities being planned right around Australia to celebrate National TAFE Day on Monday 3 June.
Here are some suggestions for how you could celebrate with us on Monday:
There are hundreds of activities being planned right around Australia to celebrate National TAFE Day on Monday 3 June.
Here are some suggestions for how you could celebrate with us on Monday:
- Encourage 1 more person to sign up as a supporter
on www.stoptafecuts.com.au.
With more than 2,000 supporters so far - let's double that number on
June 3!
- Get our StopTAFECuts poster here.
Print one out, and send us a photo of yourself holding it. Share it
on our Facebook page or email it to us.
- Send us a TAFE tweet on June 3 to @TAFECampaign
using the #stopTAFEcuts hashtag. Encourage your friends to retweet.
- Update your Facebook status. Tell all your friends
why you're celebrating National TAFE Day and encourage them to like
us on Facebook.
- Send us a photo of your National TAFE Day activity
or event! You can email
us or share your photos on our Facebook page.
Celebrate the great achievements of our world-class TAFE system on June 3!
Let's keep building the campaign to Stop TAFE Cuts, and defend our TAFE system.
StopTAFECuts team
Friday, April 12, 2013
The Indignity Of Work
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| Snaps during Labourstart conference Sydney (Photo credit: markfchristopher) |
"With increased casualisation on the one hand, and longer working days on the other, the major parties' 'dignity of work' rhetoric is wearing thin, writes Sarah Burnside"
Noting that Australia has the fourth highest proportion of part-time workers in the developed world, ACTU president Ged Kearney argued that many who do not feature in the unemployment statistics are still struggling to make ends meet. The ABC alsoreported Beyond Blue chief executive Kate Carnell expressing concerns about risks of depression and serious illness posed by “job insecurity, over-work and under-work”.
The Indignity Of Work
Monday, January 14, 2013
‘Gus’ Guthrie dies at age 78 | Sunshine Coast Daily
I wanted to share this on our blog as 'Gus' Gutherie was a person who always worked well with the excutive and I think any one of us who knew him personally would call him a good comrade. The article does not mention UTS but I assure you he is remembered by all of us.
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
CUTS AND MORE CUTS
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| English: UWS logo (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Dissent at the University of Western Sydney has reached new heights with students and academics affected by course and staff changes engaged in an ongoing protest.
The university has proposed slashing courses offered across its campuses by up to a third.
VALUING SKILLS
 |
| TAFE, Liverpool, Sydney (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Valuing Skills
Updated research since this report:
THE CAPTURE OF PUBLIC WEALTH BY THEFOR-PROFIT VET SECTORA REPORT PREPARED FOR THE AUSTRALIANEDUCATION UNION
"Funding for TAFE has been substantially reduced despite their obligation to contribute to these social and economic objectives, while also acting as custodians for the provision of quality vocational education. If higher levels of funding and a more sustainable funding model for TAFE is not found, then the there is a very high likelihood that public confidence in the entire system of vocational qualifications will be fatally eroded."
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