I Know I Have Workers Rights, But What Actually Are They?

Get your rights right.

As a young person, starting work can be pretty daunting.

An important part of being a worker is knowing what your rights are – but how do you know what they are?

We caught up with Andrew Rich, Head of National Industrial and Employment Law at Slater & Gordon Lawyers about what young people need to know about their rights before they embark on their careers.

What are my rights as a worker?

Worker’s rights in Australia are largely set out by the National Employment Standards under Fair Work Act.

The vast majority of workers in Australia are guaranteed a fair rate of pay, overtime and penalty rates, as well as various types of leave like annual, sick, carers or maternity leave.

Andrew said the National Employments Standards “apply to most employees around the country”.

He also stressed the importance of knowing your award rate.

An award rate is basically the legal minimum amount you should be paid in your industry.

“Awards apply regardless of whether your employer has told you that they apply. They’ll apply simply by looking at the award and working out if you’re in the industry that they would apply to, and if you do the work, it will cover you,” Andrew said.

“The only exception to this is if an Enterprise Agreement has been negotiated in your workplace to overrule any applicable Award.”

I’m a casual worker – what rights do I have?

Casual work is a pretty interesting one – you might know that by being a casual worker, you don’t have access to things like paid annual or sick leave, but that doesn’t mean your rights are any less.

You’re still covered by the terms of the National Employment Standards, and there are some special privileges for casual workers.

“Under the Fair Work Act, there is a capacity for casual employees to seek a conversion to permanent employment.”

Andrew said your employer “can only refuse on reasonable grounds, and there are processes by which you can file a dispute about that”.

So, if you’ve been working “a regular and systematic schedule” over a period of 12 months or more, you can request being converted to a full-time or part-time worker, which would give you access to things like paid leave, protection from termination, as well as a guaranteed award rate.

How am I protected against discrimination and harassment?

Although anti-discrimination laws vary state-by-state, Andrew said laws are “broadly similar”.

“You can’t be directly discriminated against because of one of the defined characteristics in the legislation, which tend to be things like your age, sex, disability, gender, race, or sexuality.”

There are federal anti-discrimination laws, but the majority of legislation is decided at the state level, but most state laws also cover sexual harassment in the workplace.

“There's a broad range of conduct that could be said to be conduct of a sexual nature that have been covered by the sexual harassment provisions, not just inappropriate sexual touching or overtly sexual comments, so, it's worth being aware of that as well.”

What do I do if I think my rights are being infringed upon?

Andrew said there are a couple things you can do.

“The advice would really be about whether you make an internal complaint, or if you don’t trust those mechanisms or don’t think those mechanisms are going to helpful, whether you make a complaint to one of the anti-discrimination commissions or tribunals.”

He said, for young people, there are a number of things you can do to address your concerns, including:

• Going internally via human resources or equivalent at your workplace.
• Get advice from a youth work organisation.
• If you’re a part of a union, ask them for help.
• Contact an independent employment law specialist.

Pretty much, having knowledge of your rights at work is going to help you a lot.

By knowing how you’re supposed to be treated at work, you’re gonna ensure you have a better time, and you’ll know exactly what to do when those rights aren’t protected.

Check out the Fair Work Ombudsman for more info on your working rights, and you'll be more than alright.