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Summer 2004

Casual and insecure jobs Taking Over

New ACTU research shows around one in three women are now employed casually and have no access to paid sick leave or annual holidays or even paid leave on a public holiday.

Research shows that since 1996 more than four out of ten (42%) net new full time jobs have been casual, and there are now more than 2.2 million Australians working casually.

HACSU members have taken up this issue with a sustained campaign in the public sector - where we have had thousands of short term and casual jobs converted to permanency over recent years -, and have had a number of recent wins on this issue in the private sector.

The whole idea of casual work is that it should only be for jobs that are short-term or to cover for absences, but the research shows that this is not the case.

• A startling finding is that most casual jobs are long term jobs with more than half of all casuals staying in their jobs more than one year.

• The research also shows that even with the extra pay loading casuals receive because they do not get paid leave and holidays, they are paid 21% less than permanent workers.

• Most casuals receive only $15 an hour (inclusive of casual loading) whereas most permanent workers receive $19 an hour (not including their paid sick, holiday, carers and long service leave).

• The generally low pay and lack of permanency means that banks are reluctant to lend to casuals and they find it harder to buy a house. Only 35% of casual workers own their own home compared to 60% of permanent workers.

• Rising levels of casual work are also having a negative effect on skill development and productivity in the economy. Less than half of casuals (45%) who have been in their job for more than a year received any training in the past 12 months compared to 71% of permanent workers.

Australia has the second highest proportion of temporary or casual workers of any developed country. The fact that so many countries have much lower rates of casual work shows that job insecurity is not essential to a competitive economy and that the problem can be fixed.