Farmers have urged the federal government to work with the industry to avoid unintended impacts on the fresh food supply chain.
Federal Employment Minister Tony Burke this week announced proposed new laws to require casual workers with regular and predictable hours to be made permanent, but NSW Farmers workplace relations spokesman Chris Stillard warned it would simply make it harder to employ casuals with no real benefits. Casual employees already had a pathway to request permanent employment, he said, and had been no increase in the employment of casuals over the past decade.
“In agriculture there are plenty of seasonal jobs that are available on full time hours, but they are only available for part of the year or relatively short periods of time over the year,” Mr Stillard said.
“There’s also a high chance of disruptions to the work available, whether they be weather related or market related.
“Businesses need certainty to be able to engage staff accordingly to meet these fluctuating demands, and while we understand what the Minister is getting at, the proposed changes raises more questions than it answers.”
For Mr Stillard, a horticulture grower in Southern NSW, there were long periods where few workers were required, and short periods where more were required. He said any broad changes to employment law without properly consulting the industry or observing the feedback provided by the industry could have an impact on further driving up food production costs.
“Take the example of pruning, it runs for three months, three days a week, then it ends. Three months later thinning (removing excess fruit) begins and it runs for one month, four days a week and then it ends. A month later harvest begins – six days a week for two months and then it ends. Pruning recommences three months later,” Mr Stillard said.
“No business can afford to have workers sitting around waiting for something to happen, and that’s before you factor in a hailstorm that might destroy that year’s crop, or a flood, or you get delays due to cold, or if fruit bats come and threaten your crops you might need to do two fifteen hour days to strip trees rather than eight six hour days to pick-to-size.
“This is the reality of horticulture, but there are similar challenges for other types of agriculture, you can’t just have a ‘one size fits all’ approach because we’re all different.
“The crazy part is that casual employees who have worked regularly and systematically over an extended period already have a protected pathway to request to be converted into permanent employees. Our preference is to keep the current definition and option to request conversion, as it provides certainty to all parties and offers casual employees the option to pursue conversion through a request mechanism.”
