Workforce Casualisation and the Ndis: What It Means for You

NDP Factsheet WORKFORCE CASUALISATION AND THE NDIS: WHAT IT MEANS FOR YOU.

There’s no doubt the arrival of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) signals an era of change for the sector. People are being employed in different ways, and new types of businesses are entering disability. There are concerns casualisation will increase as the NDIS rolls out. We explore what this means for the sector and what to expect from our changing workforce.

Who is a casual worker? Casual employment As there’s no hard and fast legal definition, it can be is much higher among tricky to define a casual employee. Although casual employees are typically employed on an hourly or daily women and young people basis without regular hours or rosters covering when they work, some do have stable and predictable employment. Again, there is no simple explanation under Australian law to define either type of employee. Instead, there are some A clearer guideline is that casual employees are not simple tests to check whether you are a casual employee entitled to paid sick leave or annual leave and or contractor. To find out more you, contact the have no guarantee of ongoing employment. In Fair the disability sector, casual workers are paid a ‘wage Work Ombudsman. loading’ of 25 per cent to make up for not being able to How many casual and permanent workers are take paid leave. This means that casual workers earn a there in the disability sector? higher hourly rate as they have fewer leave entitlements. This is separate to penalty rates and shift loadings for There are no national statistics on the disability things such as night shifts or public holiday work. workforce. However, a new National Disability Services tool called Workforce Wizard has been used to collect Finally, under Australian law disability casual workers statistics from service providers. must be employed for at least two hours each time they commence work. This is the so-called ‘minimum According to Workforce Wizard, around 37 per cent of engagement period’ and it varies across industries. direct support workers were employed as casuals at the end of 2015. This data is collected quarterly, to check If you are not sure whether you are a casual, temporary what changes take place as the NDIS is implemented. or permanent employee ask your employer or check your employment agreement or letter of employment. The disability figure is similar to the broad community and personal services workforce, but higher than the Is casual work the same as being a contractor? Australian workforce as a whole. The average rate of casualisation across all industries is or No. It is not the same. Independent contractors: one in four 25 per cent of workers are casual. Casual employment is • have an ABN number much higher among women and young people. • are responsible for their own insurances; and • negotiate their own pay rates. February 2016 ndp.org.au What will happen under the NDIS? What about the modern award review? NDIS trial site experience tells us that many people The Social, Community, Home Care and Disability with disability are requesting short periods of in-home Services Award will be reviewed by the Fair Work support from providers – often less than two hours at Commission in 2016. The hearings start in March. a time and as little as 30 minutes. The following issues will be explored: It’s up to the employer how they make up rosters, but • the minimum engagement period for part-time these variations in shift lengths make rostering staff and casual workers a complicated task. As a result, permanent workers can be more flexible than casuals, as permanent • the regularity of part-time work part-time workers do not have the two-hour minimum • ordinary hours of work and breaks between shifts. engagement requirement. At the same time, many service providers are uncertain about their future under the NDIS. Employing workers Did you know? on a casual basis can help manage some of this risk, Almost 4 in 10 workers in the disability sector but it often leaves staff unsure about whether they will are employed on a casual basis. have ongoing work in future. Across all industries, less than 2.5 in 10 workers are casual.