will see universities expand even further on casual forms of employment. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the inequalities in higher education employment that existed prior to the crisis. However, instead of addressing the problems and working with the sector to resolve them, the Government has further exacerbated the crisis in Australia’s higher education sector. Secure jobs in higher education are needed for quality teachers and researchers. Secure jobs are also needed to ensure we have safe workplaces for both staff and students. In short, secure jobs are vital to ensure the future of Australia’s public universities and TAFEs.
Casual employment NTEU agrees with the ALP that casual employment should be defined. That said, casual and short-term contract work is commonplace in higher education, but is unlike other forms of insecure employment in other sectors.
months service’, primarily as a result of the nature of their employment being semesterby-semester – despite many employees having worked at a single institution on rolling contracts for years. We are therefore looking to discuss alternative ways to address this issue and improve the pathway to secure employment.
Portable leave & limiting consecutive contracts NTEU welcomes Labor’s proposal for portable leave entitlements for casual employees, noting that this would have been of benefit during the COVID-19 crisis. We are also generally supportive of Labor’s proposed measure to limit the number of consecutive contracts an employer can offer for the same role, although we note that universities are adept at gaming systems, and there may need to be mechanisms in place to prevent employer misuse.
At the end of last year, the Senate Select Committee on Job Security announced it would be holding an inquiry and called for submissions by Wednesday 31 March 2021.
Government as model employer
Led by Senator Tony Sheldon as Chair (with Senator Matthew Canavan as Deputy Chair) the Committee is due to table its final report on 30 November 2021.
While public universities are not the public sector, NTEU would be supportive if Labor included agreements and arrangements between government and universities: in particular, research and project work.
While casual work in the higher education sector is often relatively predictable, required for an indefinite period of time and more or less ongoing, it can be described as ‘intermittent’ because work is arranged by semesters, with each semester’s work being a separate engagement. This is similar to primary and We are also generally supportive secondary teachers who have of Labor’s proposed measure to limit the same issue – they are engaged regularly, on a pattern the number of consecutive contracts an for the period of the term, but employer can offer for the same role, not during school holidays.
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Because of this, attempts at defining casual employment often overlook, or are not broad enough to include, the circumstances of employment found in universities.
although we note that universities are adept at gaming systems...
We would like to see how insecure employment as it exists in the higher education sector could be addressed as part of Labor’s Secure Australian Jobs policy. While often described as ‘intermittent’, the Union’s research has shown that there are clear patterns of employment for casual and short-term contract staff; 90% of casual (academic) university employees report being employed more than one year and 62% being employed for over three years. The statistics are similar for professional staff; 72% had been employed for more than one year, 28% for more than three years.
Casual Conversion proposal The ALP has also flagged in this policy that it is looking at options for casual conversion. While we support measures to address insecure employment through casual conversion, the current approach would not be a clear-cut solution for the higher education sector. This is because most casual conversion clauses in awards (or as is proposed in the IR Omnibus Bill) do not extend to university employees as they do not qualify for ’12
Senate Inquiry into Job Security
Superannuation While the NTEU has successfully negotiated in university enterprise agreements the payment of 17% superannuation for permanent and fixed-term staff, so far universities have refused to extend the same superannuation entitlement to casual employees, who are paid the Superannuation Guarantee of 9%. Labor’s announcement to defend the increase of the Superannuation Guarantee will assist in our ongoing campaign – which will carry into the upcoming bargaining rounds – of gaining superannuation equity for casual staff. While the Union will be stepping up its focus on insecure work in both the upcoming bargaining rounds as well as in our campaigning efforts, NTEU has welcomed Labor’s focus on this important issue.
The Committee has announced that it intends to hold hearings in capital cities and regional areas across Australia in 2021, and will inquire into and report on, the impact of insecure or precarious employment on the economy, wages, social cohesion and workplace rights and conditions. NTEU is in the process of finalising a submission to the inquiry, focusing on insecure employment in higher education. The Union also hosted an online forum, for those who are and have been employed insecurely in higher education, to determine how we can best tackle the flood of insecure employment in our sector. NTEU has also sent out a survey to the forum participants asking if they want to share their experience of insecure employment and have it included in our submission. We hope to make it clear that, with only one out of three jobs in higher education permanent, the flood of insecure employment is having a detrimental impact not only for our sector, but on the lives of many of those who work within in. For more information on the inquiry contact the NTEU Policy and Research Unit at policy@nteu.org.au, or visit www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_ Business/Committees/Senate/Job_ Security/JobSecurity
NTEU’s lobbying focus remains on both improving industrial rights and protections around insecure employment as well as turning the tide on the flood of casual employment in higher education.
Connect ® Volume 14, no. 1 ® Semester 1, March 2021
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