Working In Australia – How Do Working Conditions Compare?
Australia is known for its huge landscape and laid back, sunny, outdoor lifestyle – throw into the mix a good job and you have a perfectly balanced lifestyle. Or not! It hasn’t been too many years since working conditions in Australia for migrants bordered on inhumane. Since Australia is one of the first countries to recover from the recession, if you happen to be thinking of working in Australia, how do the working conditions compare?
Are things in the Australian work-place so laid back that anything goes, or are there proper employment structures in place to protect the workforce in all situations? Australia is a modern country with modern work practice legislation. Taking to heart lessons learnt from the past, work-place legislation is continually monitored and updated to include the protection of its skilled migrant work force. Working conditions are now considered to be much better than in many other developed countries.
Workers in Australia can expect normal working hours to be around 35-40 hours per week. Holiday entitlement is around 4-6 weeks with optional 10 days paid leave for sickness and career breaks (very similar to UK Bank Holiday entitlements). Employers are required by law to pay 9% of gross pay into a retirement fund.
So, if you are interested in working in Australia, how do working conditions compare?
Australian employers abide by a National Employment Standards (NES) guide that sets out minimum working conditions for all employees. These include issues such as maximum weekly hours, annual leave, public holidays, termination and redundancy pay, flexible working arrangements, and parental leave. So far so normal! Check out terms and conditions of employment in Australia for yourself (as per the Fair Work Act 2009) on the Australian Fair Work website.
During times of natural disaster or emergency, guidance is given by the NES if employees are unable to attend work or are placed on stand-down by their employer – which may mean a period without pay. Contracts without the inclusion of employer entitlements are covered by the NES state-based advice which helps decide reasonable responses and the general duty of care towards employees.
As you can see when comparing working conditions with the UK, Australia is unique in terms of employee experiences and employer responsibilities, since the UK very rarely, if ever, experiences times of emergency that necessitate work-place closure or periods of time without pay.
Although the mining and natural resources industry is experiencing a boom, it is worth noting that other sectors don’t fare too badly either. The Services sector currently accounts for 75% of employment, Industry 21%, and agriculture just over 3.5%
If working in Australia is still an unfulfilled dream because you haven’t been able to find work, we may be able to help.
JobContinental have partnered with an Australian recruitment agency who have done the hard work in winning a number of major contracts. They have thousands of jobs available and also provide their own Government sponsored immigration agents to take over the visa process for successful candidates. Check us out to see if we can match your skill with their jobs. I hope my working in Australia review – how do working conditions compare is helpful.
