1. With around one in four Australian workers employed on a casual/part-time basis, together with growing use of labour hire companies, dependent contractors, and homebased outworkers, Congress confirms that issues relating to these types of employment are at the forefront of the 21st century workforce.
2. Casual employment is increasingly becoming regular and full-time, and in turn a substitute for permanent full-time or part-time employment with their attached entitlements. Employment through labour hire companies is also increasing, meaning that the employment relationship can be separated from the actual workplace. The result for workers is greater insecurity together with economic stress resulting from uncertain or inadequate hours of work and the need to seek additional sources of income.
3. Congress believes that the need of workers for secure and predictable employment with decent entitlements can be achieved without compromising the reasonable requirements of employers for flexibility to deal with genuine operational fluctuations.
4. Congress resolves to adopt the following as priorities to address the needs of casual and labour hire workers in the next three years:
(a) A campaign of vigorous opposition to the Federal Government’s attempts to pass legislation aimed at restricting the ability of unions to maintain or improve casual rights (the bills propose to reduce awards to “bare minimum entitlements”, prohibit limitations on casual entitlements and confine safety net wage increases to the very lowest paid workers).
(b) Lobby State Governments to improve entitlements, such as portable long service leave, for casual employees through legislation, and to support union applications for such improvements before arbitral tribunals.
(c) Support union cases seeking the right of casuals to convert to full-time or part-time employment after a specific period of time, and consider an ACTU test case at an appropriate time.
(d) Initiate and support bargaining campaigns which include negotiating the conditions which would govern the engagement of casuals and labour hire employees, together with the duration of such employment and which include a right to convert to full-time or part-time employment.
(e) Seek federal and state legislative change to ensure that employees of labour hire companies, dependent contractors, and homebased outworkers are covered by appropriate awards and are generally subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission, together with increased resourcing of enforcement agencies to ensure that these workers receive all their legal entitlements.
(f) Support the Labor Council of NSW and the AMWU cases seeking labour hire awards.
(g) Campaign to achieve the same pay and conditions for labour hire workers as apply to the relevant employer’s direct employees, whether through awards or agreements.
(h) Develop a code of practice governing contracting out and use of labour hire, and campaign for its adoption by employers and governments.
(i) Support the TCFUA in seeking legislative change at a federal and state level to ensure outworkers in the TCF industries receive the same wages and conditions as factory based workers.
More Information and Discussion
- Read the Casuals and Insecure Forms of Employment background
paper.
- Contribute to a discussion group about the ACTU's Casuals and Insecure Forms of Employment policy for Congress 2003