Elsie Lange
On Labour Day, Premier Daniel Andrews announced a sick pay guarantee for casual workers – but it’s argued there’s not enough detail about how the scheme will be rolled out.
Michael Osborne, president of the Sunbury Business Association, said on face value anything that helped protect workers was important, but there was not enough information about how the sick pay guarantee will work.
“I’m a big believer that for every action there’s a reaction – it’s a great initiative, but something’s going to have to give,” Mr Osborne said.
“If the small business operator has to cop the brunt of this, then something’s going to have to give, whether they pass it on in terms of cost to the customer, or they feel it’s another nail in the coffin of trying to employ people.
“Because it’s just getting too hard,” he said.
The sick pay guarantee is a $245 million scheme aimed at providing people in insecure work with up to give five days a year of sick or carer’s pay at the national minimum wage, and workers can now enter in the two-year pilot program.
The government will fund the first two years of the program, which they say will generate healthier workforces and lower staff turnovers.
“The last two years have shown just how difficult that choice can be for casual workers – so we’re doing what we can to make sure it’s a choice they don’t have to make,” Mr Andrews said.
But Mr Osborne said it could become a “nightmare” to administer, and said it’s a “tough one” to deliberate because there wasn’t enough detail.
He said creating a scheme where some are entitled to sick leave before others could “build resentment”.
“Either make it all in, or no one in,” Mr Osborne said.
He said the pandemic had shown that it can be difficult for small business owners and the general population to navigate the rules of entitlement schemes.
“If you bring something in, make it simple to understand,” he said.
