Health and Community Services Union (Victoria) (HACSU) Submission
to Portable Long Service Leave Inquiry
Contents
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………….……...2
Insecure work in the Health and Community Services Sector………...3
Labour Hire in the Health and Community Services Sector…………....8
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)……………………………….10
Insecure Workers: Low Paid, unskilled or semi-skilled jobs………….12
Exploitation of Women, and other vulnerable classes of workers...13
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………….....17
Recommendations………………………………………………………………………...18
1
The Health and Community Services Union (Victoria)’s submissions into the:
Victorian Inquiry into the Labour Hire Industry and Insecure Work Inquiry.
Introduction
The Health and Community Services Union (“HACSU”) welcome the Victorian
Government’s inquiry into the Labour Hire Industry and Insecure Work.
HACSU, which was first registered in 1911, is the Victorian Number 2 Branch of
the Health Services Union Australia and represents the professional and
industrial interests of Victoria’s Disability workforces and Nurses, Allied Health
Professionals and support staff working in Mental Health services and Alcohol
and Other Drug services.
All views articulated in this submission are those of the Branch and do not
represent the views of the broader Health Services Union beyond the Victorian
Number 2 Branch.
Our members are employed across all areas of health and community services in
the public, private and not-for-profit sectors. HACSU’s main aim is to improve
member’s working lives by negotiating improvements in wages and conditions
and protecting workers rights.
2
HACSU will always campaign tirelessly for the rights, entitlements and
protections of workers engaged in the health and community services sector in
Victoria, no matter their employment status, employer, workplace or birthright.
HACSU exists in order to give our members a voice, and as such this submission
contains many personal stories from our membership who have experienced
first-hand the detrimental impact of insecure work and labour hire.
This submission will primarily be focusing on insecure work in the Health and
Community sector, specifically for those employees engaged in the disability and
mental health sectors, and the impact that insecure work has on those people
both socially and financially.
This submission makes the case for better protections for working people
trapped in insecure work and labour hire. Although this submission will focus
on insecure work, labour hire is becoming increasing prevalent in the sector, and
will also be addressed in these submissions.
Insecure work in the Health and Community Services Sector
Insecure work is defined as that which provides workers with little social and
economic security and little control over their working lives. Indicators of
insecure work are:
o Unpredictable, fluctuating pay;
o Inferior rights and entitlements, including limited or no access to paid
leave;
o Irregular and unpredictable working hours, or working hours that,
although regular, are too long or too few and/or non-social or
fragmented;
o Lack of security and/or uncertainty over the length of the job; and
o Lack of voice at work on wages, conditions and work organisation.
3
The Australian Bureau of Statistics define casual employment as all employees
that do not enjoy access to paid holiday or sick leave. Casual workers tend to be
part-time and dominated by female workers. The jobs tend to be low skilled and
low paid.
Insecure work is a lived reality for our members in both the mental health and
disability sector. The number of people affected by insecure work has been
steadily rising since the 1970’s. It is therefore imperative that the
recommendations made by HACSU in this submission are considered, as they are
necessary and vital in order to ensure that people are engaged in secure
employment.
Case Study: A Members Story
I was directly employed casual in my current job. Casuals are always in fear of
losing hours as the company employs too many new people at one time and
consequently there are not enough hours for you to cover your day to day living. It
never feels secure and rosters only come out two days before you are due to start,
so you cannot plan your life, or even try and earn more money by getting a second
job, as you do not know what days you will be available.
I love my job, but have no respect for the managers and the company and I am in
fear of saying anything as I will be victimised. I have seen this happen.
We need to ensure that there are minimum hours for casual workers in this
industry. I do not understand why we do all the training and not get any work. It is
a waste of everyone’s time and money.
Jane – HACSU member
In mental health, insecure work manifests mainly as a result of workers being
employed casually through a staff bank, or via an agency, or more rarely, through
4
a limited term contract. The use of casual workers can be dependent on a
person’s profession within the mental health sector, and to a certain extent
geography. Broadly speaking there is a shortage of trained mental health nurses
across the state and this is felt most acutely in rural and regional Victoria
presently. Generally, casuals are engaged in mental health services to cover
emergency leave situations.
However, this is not the case in the disability sector. The disability sector relies
more heavily on casuals and the increased casualisation of the workforce has
been occurring for a number of years. Insecure work in the disability sector is
becoming a feature of government funded services as well as in the Community
Service Organisation [CSO] and private sectors. The casual staff are engaged
either via an employment agency, such as On-Call, or are employed directly by
the service provider on a casual basis.
HACSU submit that the Victorian Government has a responsibility to ensure that
its own directly employed workforce at the Department of Health and Human
Services, are employed in secure work. HACSU submit that this responsibility
extends to ensuring that those community services who receive Government
funding ensure that their workers are engaged in secure employment.
Case Study: A Members Story
“I am employed in the Disability Sector by a NGO. I was employed as a casual.
After some time of being casual and having regular shifts, my union asked my
employer to classify me as permanent part-time. My employer agreed. However,
my employer then refused to give me guaranteed minimum hours and refused to
give me a contract. I spoke to HR but nothing happened, so I asked my union to be
involved. My employer would call me up and say I had to be at work in two hours!
I never knew when I was going to work, or how much I would earn from week to
week. They were treating me like I was a casual, and they did not have to pay me
any casual loading!
5
I found out I was pregnant, and I needed security in my employment. My union
took the matter went to the Fair Work Commission. My employer said that they did
not have to give me any minimum hours as a part timer, because it was not clearly
outlined in the EBA. The Commission said that as a permanent part-time employee
I should not be treated like a casual.
When I get back to work from maternity leave I am hoping that my employer will
honour what was agreed and give me minimum hours.
I am a permanent part-time employee and deserve to know how much money I will
have as a minimum each week. I now have a new baby and a husband on minimum
wage. We are barely getting by as it is.”
Rossina, HACSU member
Case Study: A Member’s Story
I am a directly employed casual in my current job. As a casual you usually start
with an intake process. With my intake process 9 of us went through the induction
process. It was like, "meet your competition". We all knew that the 9 of us entering
the services all together would mean we would have to please the "house" to get
the job. Do not point out issues, just do what you are told, or else you would not
work. We all knew that if you couldn't do the shift offered the person next to you
would get the call. Do this more than once and you slide down the list until there
were no calls. The people left on the list might not necessarily be the best workers
but they probably were the workers with the least commitments in their personal
lives, meaning family people knew they had to put the job first. I missed my
daughter’s debutante ball because I knew if I said no thank you, they might not ring
me up first next time. I missed many of my 4 children's special occasions because of
6
this and because shifts could be anywhere over the 24 hr clock, without notice. We
just never knew when work would be offered. I was always afraid to commit to my
children because as so often happened, I would make plans, then get a phone call,
"can do an active night at **street?" My children got used to this. It did effect our
relationship, but I had a mortgage to pay. I knew I had at least 8 other casuals keen
to jump into my shift. My employer had no conscience in reminding me this, making
sure I felt insecure enough to always be available.
After 2 years of this I was "lucky" enough to go on a 3 month contract, every 3
months my supervisor let the contract lapse for a day or two thus putting me
through the process of going from casual to contract and vice versa at the payroll
office meaning if I didn't plan carefully and keep funds aside for the light fortnight
when I would get very little pay we would go backwards financially. This went on
for another 4 years so we got used to the process. Out of that 4 years, only 3 times
my contract didn't lapse. This was when we had an acting supervisor who had
come up the ranks from casual and had empathy for my position. I worked in a
"behavior house" where copping a smack or two was part of the job. The risk was
just part of the landscape.
My marriage failed and I was distanced from my children. I had to make a
conscious decision to provide financially for my family and sacrifice relationships
with my family. In the end I was providing for my family via the child support
system whilst my wife and children lived their lives without me.
Casual staff are a real necessity in our economy to fill any voids left when
permanent staff can't fill the bill. However casuals can be remunerated in a fashion
that might compensate for the obvious sacrifices they make to their private lives.
Casuals should be made feel valued by the system that employs them. Certain rules
enshrining their rights to work should be formulated in a manner that properly
respects their input in the system just as much as a casuals right not to work
(family commitments, mental health breaks, time off sick and recreation breaks)
has to be enshrined so as to protect the casual from fear of reprisal allowing the
7
casual to feel valued enough to know their job (the hours they regularly perform)
will still be there on return from above mentioned breaks.
Anonymous, HACSU Member
HACSU also has deep concerns that the National Disability Insurance Scheme will
result in an exacerbation of the current over-use of casual employment, and use
of Labour Hire.
Labour Hire in the Health and Community Services Sector
The proportion of Australian employees engaged in casual work has grown
significantly over the past decade. At present the casualisation rate has been
steady, but this may be due to the fact that the use of labour hire and other forms
of independent contracting are on the rise.
Whilst casualisation of the workforce is a problem that has been long felt in the
Health and Community Services Sector, labour hire is become a prominent issue.
It seems that many organisations within the Health and Community services
sector use labour hire arrangements to minimise their tax obligations or their
responsibility to protect workers from injury.
Labour hire also allows a business or corporation not to pay wages in accordance
with the relevant enterprise agreement. One issue that unions often face is that
labour hire workers at a particular location may be paid at the award rate, while
their directly employed colleagues at the same location may be paid at a higher
enterprise bargaining rate. Many labour hire companies pay their workers
minimum rate, offer no benefits and no job security.
8
Labour Hire employees are also offered far less protection, for example, only
employees can commence legal actions against an unfair dismissal.
The growth of unstable, non-regular work routines has implications for the living
standards of labour hire workers.
Case Study: A Member’s Story
“I was employed through a labour hire agency in my current job. Working for an
agency has left me with less available work. I have trouble paying rent on time,
fortunately my landlord was understanding and supportive. I would love to be able
to book shifts into the future to ensure my ability to pay my bills. I understand that
the nature of agency work would not allow for this.
Paul – HACSU Member
It is the submission of HACSU that improving standards in the labour hire
industry can only be achieved through effective market regulation and
compliance measures including mechanisms to limit the number of labour hire
operators, a bond and annual license, clear rules and guidelines for labour hire
companies, and sufficient monitoring to ensure that the companies are
complying with workplace laws.
HACSU would support a system of labour hire licensing that would oblige a
company supplying labour to another party to be registered and ensure that
labour hire companies which operate in Victoria are capitalised, reputable,
adhere to certain minimum standards and can be monitored. This model would
also ensure that workers employed by labour hire companies are remunerated
lawfully and fairly.
9
Case Study: A Member’s Story
I was employed through a labour hire agency less than a year ago. I had to have
first aid certificate paid by myself and also told there would be an "induction" day
that I had to pay for and would cost approx $100.00 and I was not to paid for
attending as this was all prior to being "given " an "on call " casual position (not a
roster).
If an issue was needing to be noted or organizational policy and procedures that
needed amending, this would only occur if the issue was regarding a client and
incident reporting BUT not about anything that had happened to the "worker" and
that includes the huge huge area of physical violence, verbal abuse and
intimidation that DSW are exposed to in their work form poorly staffed houses and
support program mes (sic) where the staff to client assaults is not even assessed.
It is very dangerous work with the heavily growing mental health clients coming
into the grouping of intellectual and physical disability all under the DHHS
diagnosis of Autism. The flood gates are fully open now and this has crept in
progressively over the last three years.
Janis, HACSU Member
National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS)
Whilst the basic NDIS structure and funding has been established, there is a still
copious amount of work to be done, particularly around the future workforce.
As became clear during the Barwon Trial, the workforce became casualised and
unstable, and the staff untrained. When HACSU met our disability members in
the Barwon Region they reported the following:
o Workers now liaise with an increased range of service providers
10
o Workloads have increased due to co-ordination and
administration of additional service providers
o House supervisors are being required to:

Undertake case management duties eg sourcing day
services or education and vocational placements

Comment on agency staff performance
o House staff are to train agency staff
o And untrained and inconsistent staffing is having a detrimental
impact on client outcomes, their progress and, in some instances,
their psychological wellbeing.
These are all dangerous features of a highly casualised workforce.
Our concern is that the NDIS will undermine the services’ ability to future plan.
There is no way of knowing how many participants will be “purchasing” their
services in the future, and therefore the sector cannot plan for the required
staffing needs or permanently employ people.
Case Study: A Member’s Story
The NDIS uncertainty and insecurity of permanent employment (ie. your job is to
the department and not to a particular site), means you can be moved at a drop of
a hat without any consultation. My permanency was moved to another house with
a very different roster without even informing me. I found out after the fact. This
happened in the disability support industry. I would like to see a platform for staff
to have issues addressed without fear of retribution, ie whistleblower protection.
Also, permanent roster lines that cannot be altered without staff consent, including
having the same day off every week and finally, more disciplinary action for the
staff who are truly doing the wrong thing and reward/recognition for the staff who
are working well.
Sue, HACSU Member
11
Insecure Workers: Low Paid, unskilled or semi-skilled jobs
There is an argument that casual work is a “stepping stone” into better jobs and
provides unskilled workers with a transition from low pay to higher pay. The
evidence does not reflect this view. The evidence is very clear that casual work
traps workers into low pay and precarious jobs.1
Professor Mark Wooden from the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and
Social Research states that the reason why employers are reticent to hire people
is that they do not want to face dismissal costs, so casual workers make it easier
to hire. This reduced level of risk means employers are willing to give unskilled
and in some circumstances, uneducated candidates a position. 2
This is dangerous in most industries, but particularly in the Mental Health and
Disability sectors where workers are expected to be able to cope with the
demands of caring for some of Victoria’s most vulnerable people.
Training and skills development impact on quality outcomes for service users,
work culture, staff development and retention. Both on and off the job training
are of fundamental importance within the disability and mental health
industries. The capacity of workers to access training is contingent on a number
of factors, one of which is adequate funding both to pay for the training but also
to back fill staff.
The actual employment relationship has significant bearing in an employee’s
capacity to access training. Time limited and casual work are considered
“atypical” forms of employment which create significant barriers to employee’s
accessing employer supported training. Access to training for casuals poses the
greatest challenge. In 2008, the Industry Skills Council found almost half of
1
2
Casual Work Traps Workers into Low-Pay and Precarious Jobs, by Bill Mitchell.
Casual Work: A blessing or a curse, James Adonis
12
casual workers in the health and community services industries did not
complete any kind of training.3
This training gap has serious implications for the industry in the future. It
suggests that any attempts to try and re-professionalise the industry by training
the current and future workforce, will fail.
The fact that many of the casual employees are unskilled, means it is harder for
them to find alternative employment in the sector, or allow them to have a
realistic opportunity to apply for, and be successful in gaining, permanent
employment.
Case Study: A Members Story
I am a directly employed casual. It’s hard when completing a part time contract
then reverting back to casual, this means going 4 weeks without pay every time. I
cannot plan anything as I have no idea what hours or shifts I have each week
coming and going off contract to casual means a month without pay. This means
bills don't get paid, rent does not get paid and no food on the table.
I don't know any solution. But in my case I work in a vacant line and have been for
12 months and still cannot gain a part time position
Chris, HACSU Member
Exploitation of Women, and other vulnerable classes of workers
The disability sector is made up of predominately female workers (85% of the
disability workforce in Victoria were female in 2012). HACSU’s female
Environment Scan 2008 ‘Community Services and Health Industry Skills
Council, Version 2 2008, page 30
3
13
membership in both disability and mental health services for the month of
September 2015 was 68.4%.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics indicates that the number of casuals in the
workforce is increasing, with 19% of the workforce working casually. Women
are much more likely to be in casual employment than men, with 25.5% of all
female employees being casual compared to 19.7% of male employees. 4
It is clear that the move away from secure employment is one of the dominant
trends in the Australian workplace during the past decade and it has largely not
been to the benefit of workers.
Case Study: A Member’s Story
“I picked up a casual job at a NGO Disability company because it was the only work
I could get. I worked regularly hours, but I wanted job security. I wanted to have a
family, and I felt that I was unable to do so as a casual.
I knew that as a woman I would miss out on Superannuation payments into my
Super account, but I wanted a guarantee that I would have a job after I gave birth
to my baby girl.”
Rossina, HACSU member
The rate of transition between 2001 and 2004 from casual employment into
some form of non-casual employment was 52.9% to 56% per cent for all men,
which compared to 40.9% to 44.3% for all women.5
ABS Forms of Employment
Transitions from Casual Employment in Australia Project 09/05, Melbourne
Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research
4
5
14
The Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research found that
women, who were persistently employed as casuals, had a reduced probability of
finding non-casual employment in the future.
Case Study: A Member’s Story
“I am a directly employed casual. I need reasonable adjustment due to a disability
and instead of dealing with it, my employer just made excuses and kept me from
going permanent although I’ve never had any disciplinary issues.
I am not meant to start work before 10am and now there are fewer long afternoon
shifts. I turn up and get no handover and find out later on there have been violent
incidents, but it is too late. I already took a resident to the cafe. It went well for me
on the day, but why didn’t someone tell me at handover that there had been an
issue? I had asked how they were, and they just say “all good!”.
I have had to let my place to a tenant and move in with my parents after 30 years
because I could not pay the mortgage. I tried renting but it costs the same. I even
tired doing sleepover shifts, against the advice of my doctor, and my health went
downhill. I just can’t survive financially without long afternoon shifts.
14 years in this job, and now I have to move back home! This happened in the
disability industry.”
Anonymous – HACSU Member
Casual workers face unpredictability with their employment and they are denied
paid holiday entitlements and sick leave. Periods of work for casual workers can
be accompanied by long gaps or really short call-in times and many casual
workers find it hard to predict their income, to pay bills and make ends meet, let
alone plan for the future or to save and buy a house. It also makes it hard to plan
15
family time. Many of our female members who are engaged casually state that
they cannot commit to attending their children’s school concerts, or caring for
them when they are ill, as they fell if they do not accept the shifts offered, the
employer will cease offering them available shifts.
Case Study: A Member’s Story
“I am a directly employed casual in current job. I have no roster. My employer calls
me if a shift is available, sometimes in the morning of the shift. If I don’t take the
shift, they will call someone else first in the future. Sometimes if I am short on
work, I would have to go to my parents for help. There is no guarantee that I’d get
work. There needs to be an increase of pay for me to survive – or lower my taxes?”
Fred – HACSU Member
Case Study: A Member’s Story:
I am a casual employee. I have worked at least 0.6 per fortnight for the past 2
years. I have had to take leave when I broke my shoulder and I reluctantly took
time off to spend time with my family. On both occasions I was hesitant because I
am replaced with other casual workers who I then have to compete with for further
work. I am fearful to say no to any shifts that are not really suitable because of this
reason. Being casual is stressful for me because I cannot plan ahead. If I take on
further financial commitments (I am presently in need of a new car), I have the
worry of whether I will receive adequate income to meet the repayments; that is if I
am even considered for a personal loan because of my casual employment. This
happened in the Mental Health industry. I want to ensure that people who have
worked regular casual hours for a lengthy amount of time are employed as
permanent workers.
Carolyn, HACSU Member
16
The sector already is over reliant on casual and time limited staff. We believe the
roll out of the NDIS will only exacerbate this statistic further.
Conclusion
The casualisation and deskilling of the health and community services sector,
which is a complex and diverse workforce currently, will have significant
implications for people with a disability who require support in their day to day
lives.
HACSU is concerned that the ongoing causalisation of the workforce, as well as
the use of labour hire, will have effects that will be felt most greatly by those
people who are most marginalised within society: those people who are unable
to advocate for themselves and do not have people to advocate for them.
17
Recommendations
1. That the inquiry find that the Victorian Government must recognise the
changing nature of work in the Health and Community Services Sector,
which includes the rise of insecure work, including casual employment
and the rising numbers in labour hire workers, as well as the financial and
social stresses that those workers suffer, including but not limited to;
a. non-compliance with industrial standards;
b. less access to paid leave and ability to take paid breaks from work;
c. financial and housing stress;
d. safety issues due to lack of access to training;
e. impact on quality and delivery of services because of lack of
induction and familiarity with the workplace; and
f. significant barriers to engage in bargaining either with their
employment agency employer or their host employer.
2. That the inquiry find that the Victorian Government must recognise that
casualisation and labour hire will be an ongoing issue during and after the
roll out of the NDIS, and should, at every opportunity, support measures
that will reduce or eliminate forms of insecure work;
3. That the inquiry find that the Victorian Government has a responsibility
to ensure that its own directly employed workforce at the Department of
Health and Human Services, are employed in secure work. This
responsibility would extend to ensuring that those services who receive
Government funding ensure that their workers are engaged in secure
employment;
4. That the inquiry find that the Victorian Government must support
measures that allow employment in the Health and Community Services
Sector to be more secure with the access to the same, or similar,
entitlements as permanent employees;
18
5. That the inquiry find that the Victorian Government advocate for
amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009 that reflect that casual workers
must be transferred to permanent employment once they have been
working a regular and systematic roster/hours for a period of six months
with the same employer, and that workers have a right to have regular
reviews with regard to their hours;
6. That fixed term contracts should be limited to circumstances when the
worker is replacing the position of a permanent employee on leave (e.g.
maternity leave);
7. That training and education must be made available to all workers,
despite their employment status;
8. That the inquiry find that the Victorian Government advocate for
amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009 that better capture indirect
employment arrangements like labour hire;
9. That labour hire companies pay a bond and annual licences fee to operate
a labour hire company in Victoria. The bond would fund the compliance
unit and allow for lost employee entitlements to be guaranteed by the
State in circumstances such as, but not limited to, liquidation;
10. That a compliance unit be set up that approves licences to potential
labour hire companies and ensures that each applicant meets core
requirements (a fit and proper person test) to ensure worker exploitation
is avoided and unlawful behaviour is eradicated from the industry;
11. The compliance unit would monitor the licensees and investigates alleged
breaches of Victorian and Federal laws. The holding of a license must be
subject to ongoing compliance with State and Federal workplace laws,
including the provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 and applicable modern
19
awards or enterprise bargaining agreements and the Occupational Health
and Safety Act 2004 (Vic);
12. That labour hire companies should be required to provide annual reports
to the compliance unit which details the number of workers and
remittance paid to them;
13. That the inquiry find that if a business is to engage a labour hire company,
the workers are to paid the same amount as a directly employed worker
would receive, and should be regarded under Part 2-4 of the Fair Work
Act 2009 as employees for the purposes of bargaining and, as a result,
would be covered by the enterprise agreement;
14. That the inquiry find that labour hire workers should receive mandatory
workplace rights and entitlements training. Labour hire companies
should educate new workers about the nature of their employment and
inform them of their rights, including their right to join the union. Unions
should have the right to attend any inductions.
20