In most wealthy nations all workers are entitled to annual leave. But that’s not the case in Australia – and the Albanese government’s reforms still won’t change that.
Despite the high numbers of casual academic staff in Australia, surprisingly little research has been done on their working conditions and experiences.
Casual or short-term contracts, a lack of professional development, little hope of career progression: a survey of academic working conditions sounds a warning.
Lifting wages will be a priority for the Albanese government to ease the cost of living. But the unions and the Greens are likely to push for more changes to tackle problems with the Fair Work system.
Unemployed men seek casual jobs from passers-by on a road in Cape Town, South Africa.
EFE-EPA/Nic Bothma
Recent developments in the organisation of production have led to the decline of wage employment across much of the world.
An unemployed man collects trash for resale in Diepsloot Johannesburg. Calls are growing for a basic income grant for poor South Africans.
EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook
If the best people management practices of the formal economy were to be deployed in the informal economy, new avenues of stimulating economic and life empowerment may be opened.
More than a dozen Australian universities have been publicly accused of underpaying staff. Some have paid millions in backpay after audits. And a big factor in wage theft is the rise of casualisation.
Unemployment may be down, but 3% of Britain’s working population are on zero hours contracts. This isn’t good for people or business and the government needs to act.
Uber has sparked protests around the world. It is seen as exploiting its own drivers and harming those employed in regulated taxi industries.
Justin Lane/AAP
Public schools in some states outsourced their cleaning services to private companies as part of a neoliberal experiment starting in the 1990s. This has had a host of impacts, including on students.
Sugar baby websites exemplify a wider trend of casualisation in working relationships.
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There is very little evidence that overall labour market insecurity is getting any worse. Trends are stable for rates of casualisation, churn, self-employment and multiple job holders.
Agriculture, forestry and fishing, and arts and recreation services are much more precarious for their employees.
KATE AUSBURN/AAP