Casuals Campaign
Casual employment is growing in tertiary education, reflecting nationwide trends. More and more staff are being employed on a casual basis rather than as continuing employees.
For example, between 1995 and 2005, overall university employment increased by 17%, whereas casual employment increased by 54% (Source: 2005 DEST Statistics).
This has clear ramifications for those staff - clearly casuals have little job security as their employment can be terminated by their employer at any time, and usually casual employees have less entitlement to many of the benefits that continuing employees have: such as sick leave and equivalent superannuation. However, on the other hand casuals receive a 23% - 25% 'casual loading' on top of their pay to compensate for this.
NTEU recognises this growth in casual employment and is developing an industrial and campaign strategy in reponse.
This strategy involves two approaches:
- supporting current casuals through providing detailed information on casual employments rights; and
- augmenting the employment rights of casual employees through industrial strategy.
As part of the campaign, NTEU has produced a booklet on casual employment: Smart Casuals: NTEU handbook for casual university staff. To download a copy of the Smart Casuals booklet, click on the link below, or visit our casuals website www.unicasual.com.au
Further information:
| National Academic Casuals & Sessionals Conference | |
| Smart Casuals: NTEU Handbook for Casual & Sessional Academics | Newly updated in 2007, this handbook outlines employment rights for academic and general casual staff employed by universities. |
| Casual University Work: Choice, Risk, Inequity and the Case for Regulation | Paper by Dr Anne Junor (UNSW), published in Economic and Labour Relations Review Vol 14 No 2 January 2004, on the demographics and career preferences of casual employees in Australia's universities. |