EMPLOYMENT ISSUES
S TA G E 5 Y E A R 1 0 C O M M E R C E 2 0 1 3
SYLLABUS
THE WORKPLACE
types of employment
casual, part-time, full-time, self-employed
voluntary and unpaid
changing work patterns
benefits of education and training for employment
types of employment contracts
awards, enterprise agreements
individual workplace agreements, common law contracts
rights and entitlements of casual, part-time and full-time
employment
unemployment
WHAT IS EMPLOYMENT?
• An employee is a person who works for a private
business, a government department or other
organisation and is rewarded with a wage or salary.
• In Australia, approximately 86 per cent of people
who work are employees.
• Employers are people or organisations who hire
others to work for them and pay them for their
efforts.
TYPES OF EMPLOYMENT
CASUAL & PART TIME
• Casual
• Usually temporary work that does not offer the same level of
protection as a permanent job
• often entitled to a loading on top of the pay rate received by a
permanent worker.
• This is intended to compensate for missing out on sick leave,
holiday pay and other benefits.
• Part-time
• Permanent employment where the employee works a set number
of weekly working hours, but fewer hours than a full-time
employee.
• It is an important factor in Australian industry, especially as many
part-time jobs are in the fast-growing services sector.
• Many part-time workers receive the same benefits as those
received by full- time workers but on a pro-rata basis; that is, in
proportion to the number of hours worked.
FULL TIME & SELF EMPLOYED
• Full-time
• Traditionally means a regular job. Permanent work that is
about eight hours a day, five days a week and 48 weeks of
the year with four weeks paid annual leave.
• Self-employed
• are people who operate their own businesses and earn their
income by selling goods and services.
VOLUNTARY & UNPAID WORK
• Technically, these people are not considered
employed but they do make a valuable
contribution to our society.
• Unpaid work:
• involves no monetary transaction and covers work
performed in the household and community. Basically, there
are two types of unpaid work. One is unpaid household work
(for example, cleaning, shopping and child care) and
unpaid work by persons in a family business or on a farm.
• Volunteer and community work:
• provided free of charge. Examples of this kind of work are
unpaid aged care and volunteer work for charities.
CHANGING WORK
PATTERNS
WHAT'S DIFFERENT NOW?
• The majority of students today will have a role in the
workforce for the next 30 to 40 years.
• Unlike parents or grandparents, students will
probably have more than one occupation or
career because of the impact of technology.
• It is now predicted that an average worker in the
twenty-first century can expect to have four or five
career changes throughout his or her working life.
• In addition, a worker may experience periods of fulltime work, part-time work, casual work, selfemployment and perhaps even periods of
unemployment.
HOW HAS THE LABOUR FORCE
CHANGED?
• the increasing numbers of
women in the workforce
• sustained periods of
relatively high
unemployment
• the government’s
restructuring of the
economy, such as
reducing tariffs on
imported goods, industrial
relations reforms and
changes to standards
and regulations in certain
industries (for example,
the banking industry)
• ability to sell our
products globally
due to the
globalisation of
product markets
• new management
strategies by
employers that
emphasise workforce
flexibility,
• which often means
increased use of parttime and casual
employees.
INDUSTRY SECTORS
• primary−industries that exploit natural resources and
produce raw materials; for example, farming
• secondary−industries that process raw materials and
manufacture finished goods; for example, the
production of cars, food and clothes
• tertiary−industries that distribute goods and provide
services other than those provided by the quaternary
and quinary sectors; for example, supermarkets,
hairdressing and travel agencies
• quaternary−industries that provide information-based
services; for example, teaching, journalism and banking
• quinary−industries that provide household services; for
example, carpet cleaning, child care and restaurants.
MOVEMENT
• In 1966, close to 40 per cent of Australian workers
were employed in the primary and secondary
sectors.
• By 2007, just 41 years later, that proportion had
decreased to just 16 per cent.
• Employment has grown significantly in the services
sector, especially in the accommodation, cafes
and restaurants industry and the property and
business industry.
SELLING SERVICES TOO
• An important influence has been the
recognition that many industries within the
services sector have the potential to earn
export income (that is, earn money by selling
our services to people or organisations
outside Australia).
• For example, over the last 16 years, Australia’s
tourism and education industries have been
actively promoted overseas.
• This has resulted in greater tourist dollars for
Australia and an increase in full fee paying
foreign students, especially tertiary students
WHAT'S THE RIGHT JOB FOR YOU?
• What type of job or area interests me?
• Is there a lot of demand for the area I’m interested in
working in?
• Do I have the required skills or qualifications for the job?
• Do I work well with other people or better with
technology?
• Will I prefer working indoors or outdoors, in the city or the
country?
• What type of work best suits me−full-time, part-time or
casual?
• Should I start my own business?
• What are the personal and social benefits of working to
such as job satisfaction and contributing to society by
providing a good or service and by paying taxes?
EMPLOYMENT PERSPECTIVES
EDUCATION & TRAINING
FOR EMPLOYMENT
PERSONAL VALUE
• Receiving a good education and/or the right
training will result in individual improvement and
greater personal satisfaction.
• It will also increase your employment prospects.
• Government statistics show that employment is
highest among those with a degree or higher
degree and lowest for those who did not complete
secondary school.
OTHER BENEFITS
• Usually will mean a regular income and an increase
in your consumer power.
• There may be a certain level of prestige attached
to your job or there may be fringe benefits, such as
a car, international travel and discounts on certain
products.
• Job satisfaction and the sense of self worth that
comes from being employed and contributing to
society.
WHEN TO STOP?
• Education and training should not be seen as shortterm achievements that stop at the end of high
school or university.
• They are lifelong pursuits that see 20, 30 and even
50-year-olds retraining, seeking further qualifications
and meeting new challenges in relation to their
employment.
• The people who are most likely to find and keep a
job, therefore, will be those who are well educated,
have skills and are flexible and adaptable.
TYPES OF EMPLOYMENT
CONTRACTS
OVERVIEW
• A contract of employment is made when an employer offers
someone a job and agrees to pay them for their work.
• It becomes binding when the employee accepts the offer.
• In Australia, there are several different types of employment
contracts that detail the different terms and conditions of
employment.
• Areas such as rates of pay, fringe benefits, entitlements and
workplace protection all come under the heading of terms
and working conditions.
• Many terms and conditions are governed by law which
means they are mandatory and fixed (for example, the
entitlement to four weeks annual leave per year), while
others can be subject to negotiation between employees
and the employer.
FORMAL AGREEMENTS
• Until the 1990s most employment terms and
conditions were included in detailed statements
called awards, many of which applied Australiawide.
• In an attempt to build more flexible workplaces,
employers have moved towards enterprise
agreements
• A formal agreement is a written agreement that
must be approved by a government authority, such
as the Australian Industrial Relations Commission
(AIRC) or the Office of the Employment Advocate
AWARDS
• An award sets out the minimum terms and
conditions for a particular industry and includes 10
allowable matters (or points). Some of these are:
• hours of work
• Overtime & penalty rates of pay
• leave, including annual, sick, bereavement, long service and
parental leave
• injury and workers compensation
• hiring and termination of employment.
ENTERPRISE AGREEMENTS
• There are two types of enterprise agreements: Australian
workplace agreements (AWAs) and certified
agreements.
• An AWA is an individual written agreement between an
employee and the employer outlining the terms and
conditions of employment which can include the
employee’s hours of work, pay, annual leave and sick
leave
• A certified agreement is made between an employer
and a group of workers who represent the interests of all
employees in the workplace. The employees may be
represented by one or more trade unions but they do not
have to be. As long as the final agreement is supported
by 65 per cent of the employees then a certified
agreement can be made.
INDIVIDUAL WORKPLACE
AGREEMENTS
• In December 2005, the Howard government
introduced a new national system of employment
regulations known as WorkChoices.
• This new system came into effect in March 2006.
• The aim of WorkChoices was to further simplify the
workplace agreement-making process.
• One way this was done was promoting the use of
AWA’s above all other employment contracts.
• Employers were encouraged to employ new
employees under AWA’s and/or change existing
agreements to AWA’s.
FAIR OR UNFAIR?
• Opponents of WorkChoices argued that AWA’s would,
over time, lead to a widening gap in rates of pay and a
deterioration of working conditions.
• Some employees are more skilled at negotiation than
others, allowing them to secure better conditions than
those who are less effective negotiators.
• WorkChoices also weakened the influence of trade
unions since employees may represent themselves rather
than involving the relevant trade union.
• In November 2007, the Rudd government came to
power and abolished the highly unpopular WorkChoices.
COMMON LAW CONTRACTS
• Informal agreements are either verbal or written
agreements that are not approved by a government
authority, such as the AIRC.
• Any rights under an informal agreement are from the
common law, which means that this type of agreement
is legally binding in the same way as other contracts.
• Formal agreements are more easily enforced than
informal agreements
• An informal agreement can cover such matters as pay,
annual leave and sick leave.
• The terms and conditions agreed to, however, cannot be
less than the minimum terms and conditions of
employment set out in a formal agreement, such as an
award, that would otherwise apply to the job
RIGHTS AND ENTITLEMENTS OF
CASUAL, PART-TIME AND FULL-TIME
EMPLOYMENT
• at least one week of sick leave per year
• a working week no longer than 40 hours unless
overtime is paid
• pay rates not less than the award hourly rate for
normal hours
• minimum periods of annual, long-service, maternity
and parental leave as set down in legislation.
UNEMPLOYMENT
UNEMPLOYMENT
• As a worker you may experience one or more
periods in your life where you are unemployed.
• There may be many reasons for this.
• You may be in the process of changing from one job to
another.
• The job is seasonal (for example, a fruit picker, shearer or skilift operator); that is, where the work is only available for part
of the year.
• Because of the economic climate.
REDUNDANCY
• You may find yourself unemployed because of
technological advances that make your job and its
associated tasks and responsibilities redundant e.g.
farm workers who have been replaced by
machinery to plough the field etc.
• The possibility of redundancy is of the greatest
concern to industries with jobs that are labour
intensive.