Union wants Albury's casual tax office workers to get job upgrade under law change

From the start of this month, the Fair Work Act has compelled employers to reassess the status of long term staff with a regular pattern of hours and required them to offer a permanent role in certain circumstances.

The Community and Public Sector Union federal deputy secretary Beth Vincent-Pietsch says there are 372 casuals at the Albury tax office and 25 per cent who replied to a union survey had spent more than nine years with that job classification.

"We've had strong feedback from our members about how much they want ongoing positions in the Australian public service," she said.

"It would be fantastic for regional centres like Albury if the ATO did convert positions from casual to ongoing to have regular shifts and job security it would mean a huge amount."

Permanence would give affected staff access to annual, sick and carers' leave.

An ATO spokesperson acknowledged the law change and said "we will advise all our impacted employees in accordance with the requirements of the legislation".

IN OTHER NEWS:

Mrs Vincent-Pietsch said an audit and assessment of staff needed to be completed by September 27.

She noted not all positions may be converted to ongoing but said there was a particular concern about casuals who had become stuck on wages of $48,997 and $55,407 with 20 per cent loading but no sick leave.

"They never get that opportunity to progress," Mrs Vincent-Pietsch said.

An insight into the feelings of casuals in Albury was provided to The Border Mail through statements collated by the union.

A woman with a decade of service to the ATO said there was uncertainty and division.

"You can get allocated shifts but they can always be taken off you or cut short at any time," she said.

"We are spoken down to and are treated like a lower class because we are casuals."

A father said the ATO left him feeling anxious.

"You have to take as many shifts as you can because at any time they will be cut short or have no shifts to offer you and all of a sudden you have no income," he said.

"They just don't understand the emotional stress that comes with living life like that."

A casual with more than 10 years' service said she believed "everyone should be offered ongoing or permanent full time after a mandatory length of time".

"I have applied for permanent jobs yet l have been unsuccessful and told l didn't have the skill sets they required even though l have been doing the work for over 10 years," she said.

Another woman said COVID had added pressure to the work and she saw "people crying all the time".

The ATO figure said casuals had a critical role as demand differed over the year.

"We recently advertised both casual and ongoing part-time roles in Albury," the representative said.

"Many of our casual staff go on to be successful in gaining ongoing or non-ongoing roles in the ATO."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: