The Grattan Institute has called for more Budget help to assist the 4.2 million casual or self-employed workers without leave entitlements:
Over a third – around 37 per cent – of Australian workers do not have paid leave entitlements. There are about 11.5 million Australian workers. About 2.2 million of them are casual employees – with no paid sick or annual leave, and no entitlement to ongoing work – and a further 2 million are self-employed.
Low-paid workers are much less likely to have paid sick leave than other workers. Among people who earn less than $800 a week, only 46 per cent have paid sick leave. Another 4 per cent are self-employed, and the remaining half are casual workers without paid leave entitlements.
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Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness.
Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
