‘the Growth of Casual Employment in Australia Has Benefited Both Employers and Employees’. Critically Discuss This Statement.

‘The growth of casual employment in Australia has benefited both employers and employees’. Critically discuss this statement.

In Australia, there have been significant shifts in working arrangements transitioning towards casual employment as opposed to permanent employment (Mangan & Williams 1999). Casual employment in today’s society is unstructured employment, involving curtailed expectation of ongoing employment with no fixed hours (Hall & Harley 2000). They are also not entitled to paid holiday or sick leave, public holidays, notice of dismissal or redundancy payments (Buddelmeyer & Wooden 2011). Casual work is seen to be a form of employment that offers precariousness; it lacks any form of protection within the aspects of legislation, collective agreements, customs or practice and social security (Campbell & Burgess 1998). The benefits of casual employment for employees and employers are articulated by extensive academic literature, this essay outlines aspects of flexibility, the form of remuneration and incentives, the employment contract and job security.

Casual employment entitles employees to a higher wage however they don’t receive any incentives that a permanent worker receives. An employee working as a casual employee receives an hourly casual loading for every hour that they work and a higher superannuation (Campbell & Brosnan 2005). This casual loading is higher then what permanent workers receive. However alternatively casual employees don’t receive any incentives and entitlements that permanent workers do such as paid annual leave, paid sick leave and notice of termination (Buddelmeyer & Wooden 2011). This can become a detriment for employees regardless if they receive higher wages. Additionally, they receive irregular hours and aren’t prone to receiving shifts that contain long hours (Kaine & Wright 2013). Therefore organisations are shifting towards employing casual employees due to the demand of seasonal periods such as Christmas and the...