Worked a Casual Job for 12 Months? You Can Now Demand Permanency

Ah, casual work. It's a distinctly millennial struggle. Two shifts one week, seven shifts the next. No job security or sick leave and the constant feeling that you've got to take whatever work is offered to you because if you don't…someone else gets asked next time. Whatever industry you're in—retail and hospitality come to mind, although you see it everywhere—casual workers are used and abused by employers. But a new ruling from the Fair Work Commission is set to change this culture, if only slightly.

After trade unionists launched a campaign to allow casual workers to demand their employers give them permanent roles after six months, the Commission has recommended that casuals can launch such claims after 12 months. They can ask for either full time or part time status, both of which come with stable shifts and benefits like rostered days off and sick leave. The ruling will apply to casual workers in numerous industries, including hospitality, retail, manufacturing and agriculture. It's a small victory, but the Australian Council of Trade Unions says it's an important one. "Forty percent of the Australian workforce is in insecure work. A generation of young people have never known a job with a paid sick day or other basic entitlements. The rules at work are broken," wrote the ACTU president, Sally McManusa following the ruling.

"Australian Unions fought for this improvement but it only plugs one small hole in a nationwide crisis… Casual workers earn less wages and lower superannuation. Women are more often in casual employment than men, and casualisation contributes to the gender pay gap. Too many employers have been abusing the term casual, and use it as a business model to drive down wages."

The ruling feels important due to Australia's critical youth underemployment rate—currently at its highest level in 40 years. Underemployment occurs when people are able to obtain work, but only at a part time or casual rate that doesn't necessarily cover living costs.

As VICE has previously reported, many young people and especially students feel stressed and anxious when it comes to balancing the uncertainties of casual work and study. The recent cuts to weekend penalty rates and that constant axe hovering over Newstart and Youth Allowance don't help, either.

Unfortunately, it seems the ruling won't do much to change the so-called "gig economy"—for example, freelance workers like Uber drivers won't be able to benefit because they're not technically casuals. Still, the ACTU sees its victory as a step towards creating fairer conditions for all kinds of modern workplaces.

"Today's decision is the first small step towards addressing the crisis of insecure work and casualisation in Australia's workforce," McManus said.

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