June 2012.pdf - RCSA

74 per cent of employers do
not consider hiring permanent
workers as an alternative to
“agency” work
Ciett
Employers simply cannot afford to be
locked into fixed costs when they don’t
have certainty about market conditions.
Agency or on-hire work, where an
individual is engaged by a firm and on-hired
or assigned to work for a client, plays a
crucial role in supporting economic growth
and providing employment opportunities.
Union attempts to magnify an issue that
affects a small number of workers will have
unintended consequences for all employers
and the economy as a whole if it is successful.
When is work “secure”
While the use of casual labour has grown in
recent decades, so too have the protections
afforded to casual employees.
In addition to the basic casual loading
(additional pay to replace holiday and other
statutory leave entitlements) casuals receive
the Superannuation Guarantee once they
earn a minimum of $450 per month; and after
six months working for a business with over
15 staff, casuals qualify for unfair dismissal
protection. After 12 months, long-term casuals
also gain the ability to request parental leave
and flexible work arrangements.
While casual work arrangements may not
attract all the benefits of permanent roles,
these examples demonstrate that there is
indeed a safety net for many workers.
Moreover, workers who undertake temporary
“The insecure employment
campaign is part of a broader
union effort to cast commercial
decisions in an industrial
relations context”
Institute of Public Affairs
work through private employment agencies
often benefit from a strong pipeline of
assignments. RMIT University research found
that half of all on-hired casual employees
employed by RCSA members are immediately
placed in another assignment following the
completion of their initial assignment, so that
they enjoy back-to-back assignments
without having to search for new work
Against this background, the notion of
“secure” work is more complex than it might
seem at first. And in the volatile economic
climate we face today, neither employers nor
individuals can expect certainty.
Unless a business is able to improve
productivity, profitability and efficiency –
either through its workforce strategy or
business processes – then its economic
viability is under threat. Ensuring Australia’s
labour laws provide the flexibility employers
need in order to remain profitable, is a
fundamental precondition of providing
security to employees.
On the other hand, saddling employers
with red tape and onerous industrial relations
not only increases costs, but increases the
risks associated with hiring people and the
risk that business simply won’t hire at all.
Flexible and adaptive work
is decent work
There is an underlying issue about the
nature and quality of on-hire work. The
union campaign implies that work where
an individual is employed by one business,
and assigned to work for another business
or government, is bad work; and ignores
the large number of workers who:
• work flexibly in high-skilled areas
• earn above average wages
• report satisfaction with their jobs and
• gain the experience they need to access
the job market.
Moreover, it ignores the nature and
reputation of many organisations that utilise
flexible workforces: governments, hospitals
Two-thirds of temporary
workers in Australia display
high levels of job satisfaction
Adecco Temporary Labour Report 2012
What is on-hire/agency
work really like
Professor Mark Wooden from the
Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic
and Social Research, is a director of the
HILDA * survey, which tracks the economic
and subjective well-being, labour market
dynamics and family dynamics of over
7,500 households and 19,000 individuals.
He says that most people only take on
agency (on-hire) work for some of their
career; it’s certainly not a career deadend.
In fact, he says that for young people
or women returning to work, it provides a
foothold into the market.
HILDA also reveals little difference in
levels of career satisfaction for those who
identify as having a “labour-hire” job. Over
half of all labour hire workers who are still
in the workforce ten years later will be in
permanent employee jobs by that date.
*Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia
and schools are just as likely to engage
workers through a recruitment firm as
commercial, for-profit organisations.
Decent organisations, offering decent work.
After all, organisations in every industry
sector and of every size need a workforce
that can expand at need, adapt to seasonal
and economic fluctuations and provide fast
replacements for critical staff absences.
Flexibility and the capacity to adapt isn’t
a one-way demand from businesses and
government – 41 per cent of employees
wish to work flexibly for a range of lifestyle
reasons, from family through to study
commitments. In fact, in the age of over-
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