Rising costs and the change in the nature of work has led to more people holding more than one job.
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Articles on Casual work
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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.
There is effectively a class of Australian workers who don’t get holiday and sick pay, no matter how long or regularly they work, simply because their employer deemed them “casual” when they began.
Many formal sector jobs are increasingly precarious and poorly paid, meaning that formal work is not an avenue to greater social equality for many people.
The supply crisis in the meat processing industry was entirely predictable. Employers and the government should have seen it coming.
Casual staff often miss out on professional development and feel isolated and invisible. Team teaching helps support these staff while improving the continuity and quality of university teaching.
Universities have legitimate reasons for employing some staff on casual contracts, but the impacts of the COVID pandemic have brought long-standing problems to a head. Now is the time to act on these.
The Morrison Government has picked up its weapons again, with an industrial relations bill that will tip the scales further against employees.
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.
Even before COVID-19, 22% of international students often went without food or necessities and almost half depended on paid work to cover the rent. With many of their jobs gone, they’re now desperate.
While small businesses will be partially cushioned by government support measures, there’s no support for the most vulnerable workers.
A new analysis shows an economic downturn due to COVID-19 will dramatically increase rental stress for people with insecure or casual work.
If schools and childcare centres shut without the necessary support, Australia may permanently lose valuable teachers and early childhood educators.
Labor will not win an election by cozying up to coal or weakening its climate target. Instead, it must find the common ground uniting workers in the cities and the regions - job insecurity.
As political and legal fights over casual work crank up, it’s worth busting some myths, such as the idea that it is becoming more common.
Most workers are still employees, not casuals or gig workers. So what has changed to increase the insecurity of workers?
The costs of casual work are now outweighing the slim benefits in wages (and even those are not as much as they used to be).
The Fair Work Commission’s latest decision to cut certain Sunday and public holiday penalty rates continues a tradition of undervaluing young workers.
The Australian Industry Group (Ai Group) said that casual employment has not increased in Australia for the past 18 years. Is that right?
Employer groups are hoping a new deal on penalty rates will set a precedent, but the voices of young workers are missing from the debate.
Top contributors
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Research Associate, School of Social Sciences, Monash University
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Professorial Fellow, The University of Melbourne
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Laurie Carmichael Distinguished Research Fellow at the Centre for Future Work, and Professor Emeritus, Griffith Business School, Griffith University
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Professor in Human Resource Management and Employee Relations, Swinburne University of Technology
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Professorial Associate in the Centre for Public Policy, The University of Melbourne
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Alan Morris is a Friend of The Conversation.
Professor, Institute for Public Policy and Governance, University of Technology Sydney
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Professor, RMIT University
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Senior Lecturer in Employment Relations and HRM, University of Newcastle
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Lecturer in Cultural Studies in Health, University of Tasmania
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Research Associate, Centre for People, Organisation and Work, RMIT University
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TR Ashworth Professor in Sociology, The University of Melbourne
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Honorary Principal Fellow, Melbourne Centre for the Study of Higher Education, The University of Melbourne
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Honorary Senior Fellow, The University of Melbourne
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Associate professor at the Centre for Social Development in Africa, University of Johannesburg, University of Johannesburg
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Associate Professor UTS Centre for Business and Social Innovation, University of Technology Sydney
