Casual Contracts Research Articles

Bioterrorism and biosecurity practical solutions

This paper investigates the health effects of the introduction of a near universal paid parental leave (PPL) scheme in Australia, representing a natural social policy experiment. Along with gender equity and workforce engagement, a goal of the scheme (18 weeks leave at the minimum wage rate) was to enhance the health and wellbeing of mothers and babies. Although there is evidence that leave, especially paid leave, can benefit mothers' health post-partum, the potential health benefits of implementing a nationwide scheme have rarely been investigated. The data come from two cross-sectional surveys of mothers (matched on their eligibility for paid parental leave), 2347 mother's surveyed pre-PPL and 3268 post-PPL. We investigated the scheme's health benefits for mothers, and the extent this varied by pre-birth employment conditions and job characteristics. Overall, we observed better mental and physical health among mothers after the introduction of PPL, although the effects were small. Post-PPL mothers on casual (insecure) contracts before birth had significantly better mental health than their pre-PPL counterparts, suggesting that the scheme delivered health benefits to mothers who were relatively disadvantaged. However, mothers on permanent contracts and in managerial or professional occupations also had significantly better mental and physical health in the post-PPL group. These mothers were more likely to combine the Government sponsored leave with additional, paid, employer benefits, enabling a longer paid leave package post-partum. Overall, the study provides evidence that introducing paid maternity leave universally delivers health benefits to mothers. However the modest 18 week PPL provision did little to redress health inequalities.

Are Flexible Contracts Bad for Workers? Evidence from Job Satisfaction Data

If workers can choose between permanent and flexible contracts, compensating wage differentials should arise to equalize on-the-job utility in the two types of contracts. Estimating job satisfaction using the British Household Panel Survey shows that agency and casual contracts are associated with routinely lower satisfaction. This results because the low job satisfaction associated with less job security is not offset by higher compensation or other job characteristics. Job security is sufficiently important that holding constant this one facet of satisfaction eliminates the overall gap in job satisfaction between flexible and permanent contracts.

Casualisation of the nursing workforce in Australia: driving forces and implications.

This article provides an overview of the extent of casualisation of the nursing workforce in Australia, focusing on the impact for those managing the system. The implications for nurse managers in particular are considerable in an industry where service demand is difficult to control and where individual nurses are thought to be increasingly choosing to work casually. While little is known of the reasons behind nurses exercising their preference for casual work arrangements, some reasons postulated include visa status (overseas trained nurses on holiday/working visas); permanent employees taking on additional shifts to increase their income levels; and those who elect to work under casual contracts for lifestyle reasons. Unknown is the demography of the casual nursing workforce, how these groups are distributed within the workforce, and how many contracts of employment they have across the health service--either through privately managed nursing agencies or hospital managed casual pools. A more detailed knowledge of the forces driving the decisions of this group is essential if health care organisations are to equip themselves to manage this changing workforce and maintain a standard of patient care that is acceptable to the community.

The Diversity of Casual Contract Employment

The ABS definition of a includes: many workers who do not have a casual employment contract; a large group whose work is not casual (in the sense of being occasional, irregular or short term); and aggregates across distinct groups of casual contract employees who have very different entitlements and work arrangements. In August 1999, more than one in ten people categorized as casual employees by the ABS were in fact owner managers. This upward bias in the data has increased since the late 1980s and is most evident for people working full-time. Using alternative data from a new irregular ABS survey, it is estimated that there were 1.5 million casual contract employees in August 1998 (equivalent to 17.7 percent of employed persons, compared to 23.2 percent who would have satisfied the ABS definition of a casual employee). In August 1998, 95 percent of casual contract employees had an implicit contract for employment, only 4 percent had a job which their employer had indicated was short term, and many perceived that they were able to progress to an contract job. More than a third of casual contract employees had an implicit contract for employment and regular earnings in August 1998. Many of these ongoing casuals have been granted entitlements associated with employment (such as long service leave) because the true nature of their work is ongoing. However, 80 percent of casual contract employees in August 1998 were not protected by unfair dismissal laws, 62 percent had irregular earnings (excluding overtime), and 40 percent wanted to work more hours. They were also concentrated in low skill occupations. The welfare impacts of particular job traits will depend on the preferences of those affected. Casual contract employees tend to be young, female, and full-time dependent students. A large minority (29 percent in August 1998) are aged over 24 and have dependants, although this group is more likely to have employment conditions closer to contract employees. Hence, whether an employee has a casual contract provides little information about his or her welfare. Where the concern is about so-called precarious employment, analysts need to identify such employment on the basis of work arrangements rather than the type of employment contract.

One day survey by the Mental Health Act Commission of acute adult psychiatric inpatient wards in England and Wales

Objectives : To provide (via the Mental Health Act Commission's “national visit”) empirical evidence on ward occupancy levels, use of the Mental Health Act 1983, nurse staffing, and care of...

Casual and regular contracts: Workers’ self‐selection in the rural labour markets in India

The article examines workers’ choice between casual and regular contracts. It departs from existing theories in that in addition to wage considerations it highlights the significance of time and credit constraints. Results obtained from the ICRISAT villages in India suggest that risk‐averse landless labourers ought to prefer casual to regular contracts because earnings from casual contracts are higher. However, this argument gets strongly modified once we consider that a large part of regular wages are received in advance and that the comparative attractiveness of regular contracts depends crucially on whether labourers have access to credit and other jobs.