RCSA Submission Highlights The Recruitment & Consulting Services Association (RCSA) is pleased to make this submission to the Victorian Inquiry into the Labour Hire Industry and Insecure Work. Key points of this submission include: RCSA submits that the Victorian government should be examining ways to harness the benefits of genuine professional on-hire worker services rather than restrain them by introducing new forms of negative regulation which will do little to prevent non-compliant behaviour amongst exploitative labour contractors. That ‘Labour hire’ is an imprecise and commonly misused term. The absence of precise and consistent terminology in the employment services industry is contributing to confusion, especially when we examine exploitation of vulnerable workers by labour contractors within the horticulture and food processing industries. RCSA Members, in the provision of private employment services, provide work opportunities and improved working lives on a level which cannot be ignored. The on-hire worker services sector employs over 300,000 employees and generates $19 billion in revenue for the Australian economy. The evidence from regulatory agencies is that genuine on-hire worker service firms demonstrate high levels of compliance and, in fact, are commonly better performers in workplace relations and WHS compliance than direct hire employers. Therefore, there is no justification for the introduction of negative licensing which will only increase costs and make non-compliant labour contractors comparatively cheaper and therefore more attractive to unsophisticated end-users. It is misleading and counterproductive if trade unions and certain political groups misrepresent flexible forms of work as ‘precarious’. Flexible forms of employment are key enablers for businesses to retain and create jobs whilst staying adaptable and competitive. RCSA and employers internationally are concerned by the lack of clarity and usefulness of the definition of ‘precarious work’ and particularly by suggestions that flexible forms of employment are systematically precarious. The ESI Code adopts a more proactive approach that can, in concept, utilise the accreditation of employment services as the principal means of balancing supply side and demand side pressure and responsibility for the achievement of positive outcomes. The ESI Code would, without the need for licensing or more restrictive forms of regulation, articulate professional standards of Equal Opportunity & Diversity, Service; Integrity & Good Faith, Co- operation, and Assurance in dealings for the supply and acquisition of employment services and would provide access to consumer and unfair competition remedies in circumstances where labour market exploitation occurred in contravention of the Code.
RCSA Submission Highlights The Recruitment & Consulting Services Association (RCSA) is pleased to make this submission to the Victorian Inquiry into the Labour Hire Industry and Insecure Work. Key points of this submission include: RCSA submits that the Victorian government should be examining ways to harness the benefits of genuine professional on-hire worker services rather than restrain them by introducing new forms of negative regulation which will do little to prevent non-compliant behaviour amongst exploitative labour contractors. That ‘Labour hire’ is an imprecise and commonly misused term. The absence of precise and consistent terminology in the employment services industry is contributing to confusion, especially when we examine exploitation of vulnerable workers by labour contractors within the horticulture and food processing industries. RCSA Members, in the provision of private employment services, provide work opportunities and improved working lives on a level which cannot be ignored. The on-hire worker services sector employs over 300,000 employees and generates $19 billion in revenue for the Australian economy. The evidence from regulatory agencies is that genuine on-hire worker service firms demonstrate high levels of compliance and, in fact, are commonly better performers in workplace relations and WHS compliance than direct hire employers. Therefore, there is no justification for the introduction of negative licensing which will only increase costs and make non-compliant labour contractors comparatively cheaper and therefore more attractive to unsophisticated end-users. It is misleading and counterproductive if trade unions and certain political groups misrepresent flexible forms of work as ‘precarious’. Flexible forms of employment are key enablers for businesses to retain and create jobs whilst staying adaptable and competitive. RCSA and employers internationally are concerned by the lack of clarity and usefulness of the definition of ‘precarious work’ and particularly by suggestions that flexible forms of employment are systematically precarious. The ESI Code adopts a more proactive approach that can, in concept, utilise the accreditation of employment services as the principal means of balancing supply side and demand side pressure and responsibility for the achievement of positive outcomes. The ESI Code would, without the need for licensing or more restrictive forms of regulation, articulate professional standards of Equal Opportunity & Diversity, Service; Integrity & Good Faith, Co- operation, and Assurance in dealings for the supply and acquisition of employment services and would provide access to consumer and unfair competition remedies in circumstances where labour market exploitation occurred in contravention of the Code.
Submission-RCSA.docx