NEW AUSTRALIAN WORKING TIME MINIMUM STANDARDS: REPRODUCING THE SAME OLD GENDERED ARCHITECTURE? Women Collectivism Symposium 11 May 2011 University of Sydney Sara Charlesworth & Alexandra Heron

Presentation Starting point: Does new FWA ‘safety net’ challenge legacy of ‘SER-centrism’ (Vosko 2007)? Focus on: Frontline paid care work Working time minima - neglected dimension in understanding pay inequity Thru analysis of on-paper provisions of NES & Aged Care, SCHCDS & Manufacturing ‘modern’ awards →from standpoint of part-time and casual workers

Two Distinct Workforces… Manufacturing 27% women 11% casual (21% women) 15% PT (35% women) 3.8% underemployment Community Services 85-90% women 29%-35%++ casual (Martin & King 2008) 40%-80% PT (PC 2010, 2011) 9.3% underemployment (15% community personal service workers Short hours PT 26% of frontline workers want more hours (1/2 want 10+ hpw more) (Martin & Healy 2010)

Legacy of Labour force & Regulatory Change Capacity to bargain major issue in female dominated sectors Less than ½ female workers covered by EAs Women more likely to be award reliant (award safety net ceiling not floor) ¼ of PT female workers & 36% of casual female workers 15% manufacturing workers award reliant cf 17% health & social assistance industry & 31% of community & personal care workers Increased employer-orientated flexibility traded off for meagre wage increases: Widening span of hours Reducing penalty rates Decreasing periods of notice for roster changes esp for PT: Reduced minimum hours Provided for flexing up and down at ord time rates (no casual loading) → erosion of regularity & predictability of PT work as PT work increased: 1990= 10% → 2007=29% Protection of awards further eroded under WRA 1996 & Work Choices

Fair Work Act 2009 Would guarantee: ‘a safety net of fair, relevant, and enforceable minimum terms and conditions for Australian workers’ Gillard 2008 Safety net = 10 National Employment Standards + ‘modern’ awards

NES: Fair and relevant to non-SER workers? NES 1: Maximum weekly hours = 38+ additional overtime No minimum weekly hours or minimum periods of engagement Casual workers not covered by NES on: annual leave, paid carers or compassionate leave, notice of termination or redundancy, paid community service and jury leave Casuals have to be ‘regular and systematic casuals’ with 12mths+ service to access NES on unpaid parental leave & RTR 46% of female casuals in job for < 1 year (ABS 2007) 12 mths service for unpaid parental leave & RTR excludes 26% of all women Can’t pursue breach of RTR flexible work and extension of unpaid parental leave

‘Modern’ Awards: How modern are they? Modern = contemporary, up-to-date, new, fresh, cutting-edge… AIRC recognised obligation to ‘have regard to the need to help and eliminate discrimination as well as to the needs of the low paid (AIRC, 29 April 2008) But… Award modernisation not about instituting relevant inclusive 21 st century standards → patching together of existing state and federal awards and maintaining status quo ‘…the way the AIRC created modern awards was they got all the (relevant) awards and found the ‘critical mass’ on every condition’ Will Ash, National Legal Officer, United Voice

Comparison of 3 ‘modern’ awards… ManufacturingAged CareSCHCDS Minimum Engagements PT3 hours 1 hour for HC’ers 2 hours for others Casual4 hours 1 hour for HC’ers 2 hours for others 1 hour for HC’er 3 hrs for SACs, 2 hrs disability work 2 hours for others Span of Hours Day Workers6am-6pm M-F 6am-8pm M-Sun Weekend penalties Part-time W/e rates substitute for shift premia CasualW/e rates on top of casual loading No provisionW/e rates not paid only casual loading

Comparison of 3 ‘modern’ awards… ManufacturingAged CareSCHCDS Overtime Part-time Hours over PT agreed hours Hours over FT (pw/pf), or 10 hrs pd, or rostered daily hrs Hours over FT (pw/pf), or 10 hrs pd Casual On top of casual loading Hours over FT (pw/pf), or 10 hrs pd No provision Casual conversion clause After 6 mths reg casual work Nil

Variable minima Manufacturing award despite SER basis provides: greatest regularity and predictability for PT written agreement of hours days, schedules OT paid once over agreed hours discourages casual employment/ some security of income for casuals min hours = 4 Only 1 with casual conversion clause – yet casual work is exception Aged Care award provides for a written agreement with variation by written agreement SCHCDS award provides only for PT to ‘be informed’ by employer with silences on variations Aged & SCHCDC awards flexing up and down of hours gendered hierarchy of care work dependent on location of care SCHCDS award entrenches use of casuals Casuals only paid loading not overtime or weekend penalties

Conclusions SER-centrism continues to prevail in FWA safety net Better protection for non-standard workers in archetypal SER award Gendered hierarchy of care work between and within Aged and SCHCDS awards Care work still not seen as ‘work’- QIRC 2009→ Associated with ‘inherent’ caring skills of women Seen as a vocation, not an occupation Widespread use of volunteers muddies assessment of work value Nature of client group leads workers to sacrifice ‘on-paper’ conditions Quality care provision depends on high job quality of care work Working time minima matter for decent working lives AND pay equity