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Submission to NSW Government Labour Hire Task-ForcePosted: 06 October 2000Author: Unions NSW
SummaryUnions NSW submission to the NSW Government Inquiry in the Labour Hire Industry
Executive Summary
BackgroundThe Unions NSW is the peak trade union body in NSW, representing 70 affiliated unions with a combined coverage of more than 800,000 workers. One of the Council's key objectives is to protect and promote the interests of all workers. This includes full-time, part-time and casual workers. In recent times, Labor Council affiliates have confronted issues associated with the use of labour hire and brought them to the Council's attention.[1] A circular was sent to all affiliates in July calling for a meeting to discuss the Unions NSW submission to the taskforce. Resulting from the meeting, a Working Group of union industrial officers, researchers and organisers was formed. The participating unions were:
In preparing this submission the Labor Council has co-ordinated with researchers from the AMWU and ACTU. Each of the Labor Council Working Group members prepared a report on key developments and proposals for their industries. Copies of these are provided in the appendices. Also attached in the appendices is the Labor Council's submission to the NSW Workers Compensation Advisory Council's Working Party. Unions NSW was assisted by John Buchanan from ACIRRT at the University of Sydney in the preparation of this submission. Key findingsChanges to the composition of the workforce are dramatic and accelerating[2]. Such developments highlight the need for reviewing the effectiveness of established approaches to regulating the labour market. It is because of this that the Unions NSW welcomes the NSW Government Inquiry into Labour Hire. The issues surrounding Labour Hire are complicated and require considerable time to research. More importantly, more time is needed to debate the nature of the new developments and how best to respond to them.?his submission represents the council's initial findings on this topic. Key finding 1: Defining labour hire arrangements The definition of labour hire must be clarified in the first instance to enable the Taskforce to consider the issues that are most relevant. The Unions NSW endorses the categories outlined in the Department's issues paper[3]. Most commonly though, one definition of labour hire is: "the provision of individual workers to a client organisation by another organisation that pays the workers and charges the client a contract fee for the labour" (Hall)[4]. We consider the following table as most relevant to illustrate the position of labour hire employees. Labour Hire employees are represented in cells 4,5 and 6. Categories for understanding contracted labour
Key finding 2: Keeping current developments in perspective - Worker interests in flexibility and predictability. The most common form of employment is still standard employment (ie those engaged on ongoing contracts of service with leave entitlements). According to the ABS's recent Forms of Employment Survey these types of workers make up about 58.8% of the workforce. The proportion of the workforce engaged on this basis is falling. However, there has been a noticeable move towards more precarious forms of employment.[5]This development does not represent a major shift in worker preference. On the contrary, Labor Council believes the drift away from this form needs to be kept in perspective. (a) Labor Council believes it is important for the Taskforce to note that most workers want the benefits of permanent employment. The increased interest in flexibility should not be seen as a decline in interest in predictability and support for the ability to plan for the future. Currently flexibility is being achieved at the expense of certainty and predictability. (b) Much of the growth in new forms of work (eg agency or labour hire work) arises from inflexibilities in the way employers manage 'permanent' employment. Workers want both flexibility and predictability. (c) It is important for the Taskforce to note that many labour hire workers live in fear of their jobs and job prospects. All affiliated unions have difficulty getting access to labour hire workers. Even when they do get to talk to them many complain about serious breaches of industrial law. Few are prepared to go on the record for fear of reprisal by labour hire firms. While some agency and labour hire workers like it and do well, these are usually workers in a strong bargaining position due to labour shortages (eg IT workers, nurses). For workers in situations where labour is in excess supply a regime of fear and insecurity prevails. Key finding 3: While labour hire workers are still in the minority it is clear that we are witnessing a fundamental change in the way labour is being treated as an input in production Historically we have thought about workers being either 'permanent' or 'casual'. These categories do not mean what they used to mean. For example, casual work is now only available in many large establishments through labour hire arrangements. Probation is now often served out on the basis of labour hire arrangements. The law in Australia generally has not regarded transactions involving labour to be of a kind that are best regulated on the basis of commercial law in general and contract law in particular. Rather it has regarded law covering employment situations as a distinct realm of rights and obligations. Just as families are not governed on the basis of principles of contract, equally situations involving people at work are generally regulated on the basis of distinctive principles relevant to that situation ie-labour law. In recent times, however, we have witnessed a growing tendency to treat labour in almost purely commodity terms, often on the basis of commercial as opposed to labour law principles. For some workers this meant they are treated has highly desired commodities (eg some IT workers in short supply). For many others, however, it has meant they are treated as 'cannon fodder' - taken and expended much as one takes on and dispenses with any other input in production. As a result the social and community life of work is being dramatically recast. This has been evident across the labour market. The problem of labour hire is not restricted to the metropolitan regions, traditional blue-collar areas or the private sector, as one would expect. Rural and Regional Industries have been utilizing the services of labour hire companies, white collar service industries have been amongst the highest users of labour hire and the Public Sector has pockets where labour hire arrangements are rampant. Examples from the industries covered in the appendix include: (a) Public sector Public Service Association of NSW The NSW Public Service is arguably one of the worst offenders. Labour hire is treated as 'procurement problem' run by the Department of Public Works. Labour Hire is not monitored by the traditional agency responsible for personnel matters: the Public Sector Management Office, thus it is impossible for Treasury to centrally monitor the use of labour hire staff from a resource perspective. The PSA is concerned with the trend towards the use of Labour Hire staff for lengthy periods and the consequent erosion of permanent employment. Pockets of Temp Agency staff have been discovered where these people have been employed quasi-permanently. The PSA is concerned that there is no requirement for Government agencies to report on the use and cost of labour hire staff, thus ensuring that labour hire in the public service is virtually undetected. Federated Municipal and Shire Employees Union MEU reports ongoing problems in local councils where site rates are often not paid. The MEU also submits that labour hire workers engaged by councils are in the weakest bargaining position - "if they do anything wrong their Supervisors have the right to terminate their employment immediately and request that they do not return". A key recommendation from the MEU is that all Enterprise Bargaining Agreements and/or Industrial Instruments should contain a clause, which limits the number of labour hire workers an employer can utilise at any one time. At Kyogle Council, there are 48 Outdoor Staff with 8 casuals a day employed from Labour Hire Companies. At Coffs Harbour Council there are 70 Indoor Staff, with 2-3 labour hire workers on average employed over a period of a couple of months to fill vacancies due to maternity leave, extended leave, workers compensation etc. At Ballina Council, labour hire workers fill positions where the current occupant is on extended leave. (b) Private services sector Australian Services Union (Clerks) The FCU reports that there are about 250 labour hire firms in the industry, clearly one of the industries with a higher incidence of labour hire. FCU also reports that labour is being commodified on a collective basis with 'outsourcing' arrangement subjects to constant competitive market testing. This is resulting in a "race to the bottom", with firms bidding down the wages they pay their clerical employees. The union has one common rule award, the Clerical and Administrative Employees in Temporary Employment Services (State) Award [6]. The union cites 'misclassification' of labour hire employees as an ongoing problem in this industry. Finance Sector Union FSU reports the problem is manifesting itself in different ways for different segments of the finance industry. In some sectors labour hire workers receive 25% less pay than the permanent staff they are working with. The FSU also reports that a new form of banking (CBA EZY Banking) is totally changing the face of work in the sector. The EZY Banking call centre is totally sourced through a labour hire firm and the FSU notes in its submission that staff are paid lower rates of pay than they would receive if they were employed directly by the bank. And the FSU also notes:"Labour Hire Agency staff are leading the "race to the bottom" in respect to conditions of employment and pay rates in the Finance Sector. And while Labour Hire casual staff are still in the minority in the industry (as they are providing an effective vehicle to drive down labor costs) the FSU expects to see many more companies turn to this form of unregulated and lower cost form of employment to be able to compete in the race to reduce costs against their competitors." The FSU's own survey also revealed different opinions in the membership. Many members do not necessarily want to be permanents -they do, however, want predictability and fairness in their work. Flight Attendants Association of Australia The FAAA's submission demonstrates that the problem of labour hire now has a global dimension. Thai and NZ labour hire workers are now performing identical work and working side-by-side Australian workers on lesser wages and working conditions. Labour hire now makes up just under 10% of flight attendant workforce. FAAA believes Qantas wants fewer of its workers to "call Australia home". Fatigue is a major concern for the FAAA membership. The hours that flight attendants are permitted to fly are in accordance with the FAAA's Enterprise Agreement IV with Qantas. Overseas-based flight attendants are employed pursuant to a fixed term individual contract. Overseas-based flight attendants are required to work longer hours than those employed by Qantas. Whilst the primary role of a flight attendant is as a safety professional, the FAAA and its members are concerned that Flight Attendants based overseas are not able to perform their duties as a safety professional due to fatigue. NSW Nurses Association The NSW Nurses Association provides a very good example of what can happen where workers are in short supply. Most agency nurses prefer the flexibility of this form of work. But this is not a rejection of permanent work - rather it's a rejection of how management makes such work quite inflexible. The NSW Nurses Association also reports that employment agencies try to limit the freedom of their workers with "bonding" arrangements. Clearly employers want total freedom where labour is in abundance and total control where it is in short supply. According the NSW Nurses Association, employers don't want choice - they want everything to go their way. (c) Blue collar workers Australian Workers Union AWU reports that labour hire is now used throughout the fruit and cotton-picking industries. Common problems are the under payment of wages and undercutting of established standards in rural industries. Labour hire works to systematically mobilise excess labour to drive down wage rates. CFMEU (Construction and General Division) In the construction industry there is a greater risk of injury to a worker engaged through a labour hire company due to the precarious nature of the arrangement. Such labour hire workers are: often not adequately supervised, may not go through an OH&S induction process and have less access to training. There is also a risk that injuries suffered by labour hire workers are not being reported to WorkCover. Many workers are in vulnerable situations and often unable to make claims because they are illegal immigrants, receiving social security benefits, evading tax or working contrary to visas. National Union of Workers The NUW reports that there is a high incidence of labour hire in the Warehousing and Distribution Industry. These workers are in a weak bargaining position unless they are working in a highly unionised workplace. The NUW estimates that over 90% of labour hire employees in warehousing and distribution would prefer a permanent job. One of the major problems the NUW have encountered is the non-payment of site rates. The NUW cites an example of one labour hire firm that has refused to pay site rates and have taken a negative stance toward the union at warehouses in a number of locations. A key recommendation made by the NUW is to legislate to ensure that labour hire employees must be paid the same rates as if the enterprise employer engaged them. Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association The SDA reports the presence of labour hire on the clear majority of sites in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic manufacturing industries. The density of labour hire workers within the workforce varies from 4% to in excess of 25% of the workforce from site to site. The same workers are consistently used at the same site on an ongoing basis, either to cope with regular peaks in production or the labour hire worker permanently works on the site to cater for normal production. The largest problem faced by the SDA is the consistent failure to pay labour hire workers the same site rate of pay, this is despite successful arrangements for labour hire workers in some enterprise agreements. The host company's complete direction of the labour hire worker on site is consistent with the common law control test for an employee, yet the contractual manipulation of labour hire avoids the obligation to pay the site rate of pay[7]. The SDA recommends legislative arrangements that require labour hire workers to be paid as if they were wmployees of the host company when working on the host company's site. Transport Workers Union The TWU currently has 15 registered agreements with labour hire firms that operate in the transport industry[8]. These agreements cover all the large labour hire firms that operate in the transport industry and most of the medium sized firms. In the last 5 years the use of labour hire workers has increased in all the industries in which the TWU has constitutional coverage. The most significant use of labour hire employees in the road transport industry and waste collection industry is the replacement of the casual employees with labour hire employees -ie. where previously a company employed their own casuals they now contract this service out to labour hire firms. Security of employment and de-unionisation are two of the major issues facing the TWU as the case involving Bon Macarthur illustrates[9]. Despite opposition by the union, companies are increasingly using transferring their employees to labour hire firms. In an attempt to address union concerns at the National level, the ACTU has negotiated agreements with labour hire firms, most notably with Manpower. The ACTU has made a separate submission to the Taskforce and supports the Labor Council's submission. Further, the AMWU has done considerable work in this area and will also be reporting separately. The key problems the AMWU has identified concerns OHS and the undermining of shop rates. The AMWU is also exploring issues such licencing labour hire, OHS improvements and portability arrangements. Key Finding 4. On balance the Labor Council considers most of these developments to be unwelcome (a) Labour is not a commodity and should not be treated as such. (b) Treating labour as a commodity leads to poor outcomes for the public as well as the workers concerned. eg quality of service, increased fatigue, inexperienced staff, poor delivery of public services. (c) Treating labour in such 'traditional commercial' terms is at variance with leading developments in the business world. A recent key development in the business world includes the trend in ethical investments. Treating labour with decency is not 'uncommercial'. It rather depends on what model of commerce that informs policy. Key Finding 5. 'Opportunistic' competitors prevail over 'ethical' competitors in the labour hire industry Labor Council is not against change or against competition. It is however, concerned about the nature of change and the nature of competition that prevails. There is a need to establish structures that ensure competition is disciplined and does not come at the expense of decent labour and living standards. In this context Labor Council believes the key problem is control of opportunistic competitors who get a commercial advantage by undermining basic standards. As JS Mill noted: 'under conditions of competition standards are set by the morally least reputable agent'. There is a need to regulate such agents and ensure they are disciplined and not allowed set the standard for everyone else. The clearest examples of this were in clerical and related areas, where workers traditionally have the least bargaining power. The case of MPM Personnel is instructive in this regard.
The Finance Sector Union report notes: "There is a very large category of predominantly female labour hire staff, with a large proportion from non english speaking backgrounds....(who).... are looking for work to pay the bills. They would love a full time job, but since they do not have the skills or experience they take what they can get. They are prepared to work for rates specified by the labour hire agency -even if they are below the minimum legal rates of pay. Often they do not know that they are entitled to certain rates, nor do they know or ask for minimum conditions that other workers have built up over time. They will work long hours without overtime, shift allowances or breaks for low rates. However, they are constantly on the look out for permanent employment." The FSU also reports that even ethical Labour Hire agencies sometimes have to undercut standards to survive. "Several of these (Labour Hire Agencies) have agreements with the ACTU about the conditions and rates of pay that should apply. Some have made public pronouncements about the conditions that should apply, how they strive to be employers of choice and provide good pay and conditions. But ....... (most)...ignore those agreements and act contrary to their public pronouncements. When questioned they respond that they believe in doing the right thing, but that competitive pressures are such that they cannot carry higher wage rates than their competitors." However, looked at on a broader basis, it is clear that the same principle is now operating on an international basis. In its submission, the FAAA notes: The flight attendants who are employed by Adecco work side by side with employees of Qantas. Yet their wages and conditions of employment vary considerably." Overseas fight attendants are recruited and paid by Adecco, and the primary purpose appears to be to reduce the cost of Qantas by reducing the pay and conditions of their (Labour Hire) workers. Key finding 6. Outcomes needing to be addressed - safety, training and fair wages and conditions As a result of considering issues raised in the industry reports prepared by affiliates and considering the available literature on labour hire Labor Council believes that three key issues need to be addressed a matter of urgent priority. These relate to safety, skill formation and wages and conditions. All have emerged as problems primarily as a result of labour being treated as an expandable commodity in situations where opportunistic employers and labour hire companies work to bid down the quality of wages and working conditions. a) Safety and rehabilitation Arguably the most disturbing finding reported by affiliates was the decline in safety standards. A key source of the problem here is that labour hire firms often assume that they are not the entity responsible for providing a safe system of work. This responsibility, they believe, lies with the host employer. Host employers, on the other hand, are regularly told they do not have the responsibilities of the employer. Some, accordingly, carry on their affairs as if they owe no safety obligations to the labour hire workers that they engage. The end result can be that neither the labour hire firm nor the host organisation exercises any responsibility for workplace health and safety obligations. A number of accidents involving labour hire workers at Warman International provide good examples of this problem. Three accidents involving labour hire workers occurred in 1996 and 1997. The relevant union (AMWU) reports that this employer was not a 'bad' employer, if anything this firm generally treated its workers well. It appears that the accidents reflected a changed employment situation, one in which insufficient responsibility was taken by the parties to the employment of labour to ensure a safe work setting. A summary of the key features of one these cases, Workcover Authority of NSW vs Swift Placements is attached in appendix B. Efforts to evade responsibility have not been well received by Courts and industrial tribunals. Wendy Thompson has recently conducted an analysis of OHS obligations of organisations to sub-contractors and agency workers[10]. She considers a number of recent cases where major accidents involving agency or labour hire workers occurred. The consistent pattern in these cases is that neither the labour hire firm nor host employer regarded safety as their obligation. The relevant courts and industrial tribunals rejected such arguments. In light of these authorities and the relevant sections of the OHS Act she argues the duties of persons or organisations in control of work performed by labour hire workers are clear: both parties share responsibility. (Thompson p50) Indeed, she argues that 'there may be even greater steps needed to be taken by organisations to effectively discharge their obligations under the OHS Act towards contractors/agency workers given that the work is frequently carried out at premises outside their control.' (p51) While the law is clear, practice in the field indicates problems for labour hire workers persist. The CFMEU reports that labour hire arrangements in construction involving overseas labour and dubious tax arrangements often discourage workers from reporting breaches and accidents. The TWU submission deals with the situation of a labour hire worker in the waste disposal industry receiving no basic safety training and subsequently suffering the trauma associated with awaiting the outcome of a test for HIV after receiving a needle stick injury. Safety standards involving labour hire workers clearly need to be more strictly enforced. Employers and labour hire companies need to be better informed about their shared obligations in this area. Allied to the issue of safety is rehabilitation. While affiliates did not devote much attention to this issue Labor Council is concerned about the fate of injured labour hire workers. As such workers do not have a specific work site to return to, Labor Council suspects that these workers rights to rehabilitation are harder to enforce. b) Training and Skills formation Nearly all affiliates noted the poor levels of induction training received by labour hire workers. This limited their capacity to perform effectively on the job and contributed to the safety problems noted earlier. Labor Council believes the Taskforce should consider the emerging research on the question of labour hire commissioned by the Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) and the National Centre for Vocational Education and Research (NCVER)[11]. Recent studies commissioned by both bodies have highlighted how labour hire arrangements are generally associated with lower levels of employer provided training, especially in general applicable and vocational skills. This is especially the case at trade level where labour hire arrangements appear to be associated with (although not the sole cause of) declining numbers of four year apprenticeships. The KPMG study into the impact of labour hire training noted: much of the problem arises because employers are reluctant to invest in training a labour hire worker when such workers have no ongoing link with a workplace or labour hire firm. In this context the KPMG report noted that a number of labour hire firms understood the problem, but felt helpless to act in isolation. To do so would increase their labour overheads and thereby reduce their margins or increase charge out rates, consequently reducing their market share. Such firms noted the only solution to this problem would involve industry wide arrangements where all labour hire firms were required to make a contribution to training. Such a 'levelling of the training playing field' would mean responsible labour hire firms would not be disadvantaged in the market place because of their commitment to training. c) Undermining of wages and conditions One of the most desireable conditions of employment is ongoing and predictable levels of income and access to established employment rights such sick leave, holiday leave, long service leave and rights to fairness concerning termination of employment. The most profound change associated with labour hire has been the erosion of 'permanent' levels of employment, which provide the basis for such rights. The growth in labour hire means more and more workers are not getting access to long recognised standard entitlements traditionally associated with employment. In addition, the most common complaint of affiliates concerned the use of labour hire arrangements to undermine agreed rates of pay and conditions. The dynamics behind this were noted extensively above. Clearly, this is such a widespread problem that unless something is done to remedy this the spread of labour hire will significantly lower labour standards for many workers, particularly the most vulnerable. In noting these problems it is important to observe that the situation can be addressed. The intervention of the courts and tribunals around questions of safety provide important leads on how effective regulation can be devised in this area. The key ideas here such as 'concurrent rights and obligations' or notions of 'joint employment' need to be devised. More importantly, mechanisms capable of enforcing such new rights and obligations need to be developed Labor Council RecommendationsLabor Council has developed three types of recommendations to help the Task force: * Principles to inform policy development, * Concepts that should inform policy in this area, * Specific proposals for immediate action 1. Principles Our ideas for policy are informed by following sentiments. Process principle: Labor Council wants fair, quality competition - not an 'anything' goes approach. We do not believe that workers should be treated purely as commodities. The workers caught up in this form of employment often do not have access to even the basic safety net arrangements. They are often isolated individuals with insufficient knowledge about their rights, and no bargaining power due to their particular circumstances. Outcomes principles: Safety must be the priority and it is being undermined. As noted in several affiliate reports, labour hire workers are often so desperate for work, that they will not raise occupational health and safety concerns in case it jeopardises their employment. Fair wages and conditions. Many affiliates report that labour hire staff do not receive the same pay as permanent employees. There are many reasons for this, but again the workers vulnerability and lack of protection is a major contributing factor. This situation allows employers to opt out of existing industrial arrangements. If they don't want to pay the wage rates and conditions negotiated with their permanent staff, they simply transfer work to labour hire staff. Because of the insecurity of casual work, these workers are much less likely to collectively seek to improve their position. The result is defacto labour deregulation. This not just about sticking with award minima, it is much more about actual (shop) rates which are generally well above the minimum award rates. The host employer can effectively ignore actual shop rates when using labour hire workers. Most importantly it is about treating like with like. One of the biggest issues is the 'mis-classification' of labour hire workers. While they might be paid the base rate of pay applying in the award, and sometimes even at the workplace, often they are doing higher-level work but not being paid accordingly. 2.Concepts There is a need to move beyond current fictions: the contract model is a totally inappropriate model. Employers argue that they are negotiating individual contractual arrangements, either with employees or with independent contractors. The reality is that the vast majority of workers affected are low skilled and "dependent" upon the labour hire agency. The industrial arrangements must meet the new realities of work. Following the categories as defined in the issues paper it is important to regulate the entire 'triangular relationship' not different aspects of it. Labor Council supports the notion of 'concurrent rights and obligations' emerging in OHS law or 'joint employment' being debated in US labour law circles. Labor Council also believes consideration should be given to defining the rights of workers on the basis of more encompassing category than 'employee' such as Ewing's[12] definition of 'worker': Worker Definition:(excludes genuine self employed/contractors) "anyone who undertakes personally to execute work or labour for another and is economically dependent on the business of the other" 3. Specific recommendations (a) Safety issues Labor Council notes recent legal decisions and related developments, and calls for the specific adoption of the principle of concurrent obligations in respect to the health and safety of workers to be clearly enshrined in legislation. (b) Training and Skills Formation Labor Council notes that Labour Hire workers have substantially less access to both initial skill formation and ongoing development opportunities. Labor Council believes that mechanisms need to be developed (such as the setting up of an Industry fund) and implemented to ensure that labour hire agencies and Labour Hire host organisations contribute both financially and materially to the provision of initial and ongoing skill formation opportunities for Labour Hire workers. (c) Pay and Conditions Labor Council notes that there issubstantial evidence that Labour Hire workers receive significantly lower pay and worse conditions for the same type and level of work performed, when compared to permanent employees. Labor Council believes that the very nature of precarious forms of employment (including labour hire) places such workers in a weak bargaining position, and encourages the treatment of such workers as purely a commodity affected only by supply and demand. Labor Council also notes that there is significant evidence that work is outsourced to labour hire agencies principally for cost factors, and the main way of achieving cost reductions is by reducing employment related costs such as wages and conditions. Labor Council therefore believes that "Transmission of Business" principles, which mitigate against reducing wages and conditions when transferring a business or part of a business to a labour hire agency should be introduced into NSW legislation. (d) Job Security Labor Council notes that while some Labour Hire workers enjoy the flexibility that such a form of earning income provides, the great majority (including many who value its flexibility) fear the insecurity and transient nature of income generation provided by such forms of work. Labor Council believes that mechanisms need to be developed which provide a level of protection and insurance against periods of unemployment inherent in true casual work. As part of such mechanisms, labour hire agencies should have a responsibility of providing a minimum amount of work for labour hire workers. This should be expressed as a percentage of the maximum number of hours that a labour hire worker may be required to work over a given period. (e) Procedures and Mechanisms Labor Council notes that this inquiry was conducted over a short time frame, and that information about labour hire agencies, their practices and policies, and arrangements with host employers is not widely available. As a first step, Labor Council supports a Forms of Employment Audit of the Public Sector and the top 500 Private Companies in New South Wales to identify where Labour Hire and other Non-Standard workers are located and to evaluate the effectiveness of current regulatory approaches. Labor Council believes that genuine short term or irregular casual work does take place and is required by industry. However, Labor Council believes that for fair terms and conditions of employment, it needs to be recognised that such forms of employment disadvantage affected workers, and that mechanisms need to be developed to provide protection for such workers. The mechanisms recommended by Labor Council for further investigation and development include: * Licensing arrangements: Traditional award based mechanisms alone do not adequately protect labour hire workers. Labor Council therefore believes licensing of labour hire agencies is required Licensed labour hire agencies should then have an obligation to contribute a set percentage of the labour hire workers charge out rate to a fund for the provision of initial vocational training and ongoing training for labour hire workers. Further, licensed labour agencies should be required to contribute to a fund for the rehabilitation of injured labour hire workers, based on the number of workers employed and injuries incurred. Labor Council believes that a licensing arrangement would provide a suitable mechanism for the implementation of an employment security arrangement. Under this arrangement, labour hire agencies would be required to specify the quantum of work available to a worker over a given period, and contract to supply a given maximum and minimum percentage of that work. * Host employer obligations Labor Council believes that obligations in relation to safety, training and rehabilitation also apply to host employers. * Implementation, monitoring and enforcement Labor Council notes the concerns expressed by a large number of affiliates that labour hire workers are not willing to come forward because of the very limited nature of employment protection that is afforded to them. Labor Council is of the view that a pro-active system of licensing and inspection will result in an efficient labour hire industry and one that provides fairer wages and conditions of work for labour hire employees.
[1] Labor Council Meeting Minutes; 27 November 1997, 16 July 1998, 2 December 1999, 23 March 2000 [2] ABS Forms of Employment Survey, Cat No 6359.0 now covers a wider definition of employment types [3] Watson,I. (2000) Labour Hire in NSW-an issues paper [4] Hall,R. and Bretherton,T. (1999) "It's not my problem"the growth of non-standard work and its impact on vocational education and training in Australia, NCVER, Melbourne [5] ABS Forms of Employment Survey [6] Please see Appendix B for a copy of this Award [7] see T Sammartino v Mayne Nickless Express t/as Wards Skyrpad Print S6212 at paragraphs 45 and 46 [8] Please see Appendix B for a copy of a TWU Model Agreement [9] Para 13 in no.7 of Appendix A [10] Thompson,W. (1999), "Occupational Health and Safety Obligations of Organisation to sub-contractors and agency workers" Paper presented to 7th Annual Labour Law Conference [11] Hall,R. and Bretherton,T. (1999) "It's not my problem"the growth of non-standard work and its impact on vocational education and training in Australia, NCVER, Melbourne [12] Ewing, K. (1998) "Working Life"
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