The Australian Government is introducing new measures under the Protecting Worker Entitlements Bill to address unfair laws that reduce the long-service leave rights of casual coal workers.
According to the Federal Government, the legislation will keep casual workers from being treated unfairly compared to their permanent colleagues.
The Government said casual employees currently accrue long-service leave through a method that results in their working hours being miscalculated. The Government stated that casuals in the industry may work a compressed fortnightly schedule – longer hours in the first week and fewer hours in the second – but employers’ existing weekly counting of these working hours denies casuals equality in their entitlements.
Minister for Workplace Relations Tony Burke stated that the fix would benefit approximately 6,000 people.
“Casuals in the black coal mining industry deserve fair treatment. They deserve the long-service leave entitlements they earned,” Minister Burke said.
Casuals will benefit from a revision that clarifies that the amount paid out as part of a worker’s long-service leave entitlement must include casual loading.
Employers’ contributions to the Coal Mining Industry (Long-Service Leave Funding) Scheme should include casual loading. The Commonwealth Government added that this would prevent casuals from losing pay when using their long-service leave entitlement.
The amendments were proposed by an independent evaluation of the Coal Mining Industry (Long-Service Leave Funding) Scheme in 2021 to guarantee that casual employees are treated equally with permanent employees in the industry.
