Page 1754 - Week 06 - Thursday, 30 July 2020
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The motion that is before us proposes that a portable long service leave scheme be established for ACT hairdressers. Workers compensation data indicates that there are around 250 employers operating hairdressing and beauty services in the ACT, employing more than 1,300 people. Of the 250 registered employers, around half are small businesses, employing fewer than three people on average. Another 30 are slightly larger, employing around six people on average. The industry is characterised by a high degree of worker mobility within the sector, most employees are female, and wages are below average, at around $35,000 per person.
Sectors that are currently covered by portable long service leave were selected, in part, based on the degree of short-term employment, contract work, high mobility, and part-time and casual employment. Hairdressing shares many of these characteristics. In view of this, and in response to Ms Cody’s motion, I intend to request that directorate officials begin a process of consultation with the authority, employers, workers and their representatives on the question of whether and how to establish portable long service leave for hairdressers in the ACT. This consultation will allow the government to test the views of the workers and employers who would be most affected and who have the most to gain from accessing portable long service leave. It will also explore the most effective and efficient method of extending cover.
Significantly, the most recent extension of portable long service leave to waste disposal and aged-care workers was achieved by expanding existing schemes which had characteristics in common with those occupations. None of the existing schemes have this level of compatibility with hairdressing. A number of ACT hairdressing employers are microbusinesses which, due to their size and relatively tight profit margins, have limited capacity to manage cash flow demands or new administrative obligations. Consultation should have a particular focus on considering how to best limit any adverse impact on small business costs.
Portable long service leave schemes respond to the fluidity of the modern-day Australian workforce. They recognise that workers very often do not stay in the same job for their whole working life; nonetheless, they remain committed to their professions, their careers and their industry. Portable long service leave supports workers who are willing to commit to the same industry. This can have a beneficial productivity impact for industry, which is better able to retain skilled workers.
The ACT government is committed to making use of all legislative, policy and procedural tools at its disposal to improve workplace ethical and labour standards. This includes strategies to reduce both the incidence of insecure work and the adverse impact of insecure work on the community. Portable long service leave is one of the mechanisms implemented by this government to reduce inequality levels between workers in secure and insecure work. More than half of ACT private sector workers currently have access.
I take the opportunity to share a quote from two workers who are covered under the scheme. Christine is a cleaner, and told me:
We fought for so long to get what others take for granted. It is good to know that in a time when the world has gone mad, our long service leave is safe.
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