The Mining and Energy Union (MEU) has welcomed moves to fix unfair laws that reduce the long-service leave entitlements of casual employees in the coal industry.
The federal government is introducing legislation this week, which will prevent those workers from being disadvantaged compared to their permanent counterparts, just because of their employment status.
Currently, casuals accrue long-service leave through a calculation that leads to their working hours being unfairly counted.
They may work a compressed fortnightly roster – longer hours in the first week and shorter hours in the second – but current weekly counting, reported by employers, is denying them equality in their entitlements.
MEU general secretary Grahame Kelly praised the government’s initiative.
“Australian coal miners have a very good long service leave scheme, but it needs updating to close loopholes and reflect the nature of today’s industry,” he said.
“Casuals have been short-changed because there has been no provision to average out the 35 ordinary hours over the roster cycle, as is the case for permanent employees.
“We made the case for addressing this inequity for casuals in our submission to the 2021 review into the Coal Long Service Leave Scheme.
“So, we are very pleased that the Albanese government has seen the importance of addressing this issue, which affects many thousands of workers across our coalfields.
“Mining companies’ aggressive push to casualise the workforce has undermined rights and entitlements for coal mineworkers across the industry.
“We are delighted to have a federal government willing to push back and strengthen laws in the interests of workers.”
Hunter MP Dan Repacholi, a former miner himself, said the change would make a real difference.
“This Protecting Worker Entitlements Bill will iron out the unfair laws current disadvantaging casual workers in the coal mining sector,” he stated.
“Workers deserve to be paid what they are entitled to.
“And, the averaging of hours across a roster cycle will mean 6,000 employees are getting a fair long service leave balance so that when they take the leave they aren’t taking a pay cut.”
Casuals in the industry will also benefit from an amendment that makes it clear that the amount paid out as part of a worker’s long-service leave entitlement must include casual loading.
Levies paid by employers to the Coal Mining Industry (Long-Service Leave Funding) Scheme must also include casual loading.
This will ensure that casuals do not take a pay cut when accessing their long-service leave entitlement.
These changes were recommended by an independent review in 2021 into the Coal Mining Industry (Long-Service Leave Funding) Scheme, to ensure that casual employees are treated no less favourably than permanent employees in the industry.
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