Published: 17/12/2020
Category: On The Job
Published: 17/12/2020
Category: On The Job

Director of the Young Workers Centre, Felicity Sowerbutts, says the Morrison Government’s newly introduced Industrial Relations laws are a “kick in the guts” for already vulnerable young workers.

Speaking with On the Job with Francis Leach & Sally Rugg, Sowerbutts explained, “This legislation will strip away the rights of casual workers.

“It’ll make it easier for a boss to sack you, without notice.

“It’s also given the opportunity to bosses to take away sick leave and annual leave by allowing them to classify workers as casuals.”

While Sowerbutts acknowledged the Government’s claim that the legislation allows for conversion to permanent work, she is concerned that bosses will be able to find loopholes as they did under the JobKeeper scheme. She warned, “The devil is in the detail of this legislation.

“Many young workers have missed out on JobKeeper, because their bosses claimed that they’re not regular and systematic casuals – that will happen again, with this legislation in place.

“It will also encourage bosses to let you go just before the 12-month mark so that they can bring in another casual for 11 and a half months”.

With so many young workers already victim to insecure employment and wage theft, Sowebutts has urged workers to take action to protect themselves. “It’s really important right now that all young workers are a member of their union”, she said.

“You can also reach out to the Young Worker Centre to get involved in campaigning against this bill which will ultimately kill jobs and cut wages and make it almost impossible to hold wage thieves to account”.

Listen to the full interview with Felicity Sowerbutts and make your working life better by subscribing to the new podcast On the Job with Francis Leach & Sally Rugg.

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New IR laws a “kick in the guts for young workers”

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New IR laws a “kick in the guts for young workers”