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Paid Work: Employment arrangements
Pattern of work hours One trend evident between 1993 and 2000 has been the growing proportion of employees able to work extra hours to take time off; 34% worked under this arrangement in 1993, rising to 38% in 2000. This increase was accompanied by a decrease in employees entitled to rostered days off work. In 2000, 20% of employees were entitled to rostered days off work, down from 28% in 1993. The proportion of employees whose working days varied from week to week rose slightly from 12% in 1993 to 14% in 2000. For many employees, paid employment is an activity not confined to daytime weekday hours. Between 1986 and 2000, the proportion of employees who worked some of their hours at night (between 7pm and 7am) or on the weekend in the previous four weeks increased from 56% to 64%. Set against the backdrop of continuing labour market deregulation, the prevalence of some employment arrangements was the same in 2000 as it had been in 1993, notwithstanding some minor fluctuations in the intervening years. Around one-third of employees worked overtime on a regular basis in both years, and a similar proportion had variable start and finish times. Furthermore, there was only a small increase between 1986 and 2000 in the proportion of employees who performed shift work during the previous four weeks (from 12% to 14%). PROPORTION OF EMPLOYEES WORKING UNDER SELECTED EMPLOYMENT ARRANGEMENTS
Source: Working Arrangements, Australia, August 1997 and November 2000 (ABS cat. no. 6342.0). Male and female employees There were differences in certain employment arrangements between male and female employees in 2000. Male employees were more likely than female employees to work overtime on a regular basis (39% compared with 25%), to work at night or on the weekend (69% compared with 57%), to have variable start and finish times (38% compared with 29%), and to be entitled to rostered days off work (24% compared with 16%). Female employees were more likely to have a pattern of working days that varied from week to week (16% compared with 12% of male employees). Some of these differences between male and female employees may reflect differences in the number of hours worked each week. In 2000, male employees were more likely to be employed full-time (working 35 hours or more per week), and female employees were more likely to be employed part-time (working less than 35 hours per week). Full-time employees were considerably more likely than part-time employees to be entitled to rostered days off work (26% compared with 5%), and to regularly work overtime (41% compared with 12%). Conversely, part-time employees were more likely to have a pattern of working days that varied from week to week (26% compared with 9% of full-time employees). PROPORTION OF MALE AND FEMALE EMPLOYEES WORKING UNDER SELECTED ARRANGEMENTS(a) - 2000 (a) In the main job of people who are an employee in their main job. Source: Working Arrangements, Australia, November 2000 (ABS cat. no. 6342.0) except ‘Worked at night or on the weekend in the previous four weeks’ which has been sourced from the ABS 2000 Survey of Employment Arrangements and Superannuation. Overtime In 2000, around 2.5 million employees (33%) regularly worked overtime in their main job. At least two-thirds of these employees had been, or expected to be, reimbursed in some way for the most recent period of overtime that they worked; 38% by extra pay, 21% by inclusion of overtime in their salary package, 5% by receiving time off work in lieu of payment, and 2% by other means. One-third of all employees who usually worked overtime were not, or did not expect to be, reimbursed by any of these methods for the most recent period of overtime that they worked. In 1993, 40% of employees who regularly worked overtime in their main job were reimbursed by extra pay for their most recent period of overtime worked. As in 2000, 5% received time off in lieu of payment. METHOD OF REIMBURSEMENT FOR EMPLOYEE(a) OVERTIME(b) - 2000 (a) Employees who worked overtime on a regular basis in their main job. (b) For the most recent period of overtime worked in their main job. Source: Working Arrangements, Australia, November 2000 (ABS cat. no. 6342.0). Preferred work hours and patterns One indicator of job satisfaction is the extent to which actual working arrangements mirror preferred working arrangements. In the ABS 2000 Survey of Employment Arrangements and Superannuation, survey respondents were asked whether they would prefer to 'Work less hours and earn less', 'Work more hours and earn more', 'Work the same amount as now' or whether they had 'No preference'. While 'Work less and maintain current earnings' was not a preference option, interviewers recorded this response when it was given. In total, 6% of employees responded to the question in this way. In 2000, nearly two-thirds of people who were employees in their main job preferred to work the same amount of hours as they actually worked in that main job. However, those who usually worked full-time in their main job were more likely to be working according to their preference than those who usually worked part-time. While the majority (61%) of part-time employees were working their preferred amount of hours, 34% preferred to work more hours and earn more. This preference to work more hours and earn more was strongest among those working less than 16 hours (40%) and generally weakened with increased usual weekly working hours. While 61% of those who usually worked more than 60 hours per week in their main job worked according to their preference, 6% preferred to work more hours and earn more, and 12% preferred to work less hours and earn less. EMPLOYEES' USUAL AND PREFERRED WORKING HOURS(a) - 2000
(b) Those whose preference was not known have been included in the population estimate total column but have been excluded from the calculation of percentage distributions. (c) Includes those who indicated no preference. Source: ABS 2000 Survey of Employment Arrangements and Superannuation. In 2000, the single most common main reason for employees wanting to work fewer hours in their main job was to have more free time to engage in social or recreational activities. Of employees who preferred to work more hours, desire for more income was the main reason for 93%. Very small proportions preferred to work more hours mainly to gain more experience or meet career goals (3%), to get work done or to meet a workload (2%), or for some other reason (3%). In 2000, employees working a set number of days over a given period of time were more likely than employees working shiftwork, casual or relief work to be working their preferred pattern of hours. This difference prevailed among both male and female employees. For example, 76% of male employees and 79% of female employees working a set number of days each week were working their preferred pattern of hours. In comparison, only 47% and 52% respectively of male and female employees doing casual or relief work were working their preferred pattern. PROPORTION OF EMPLOYEES WHO PREFERRED THEIR CURRENT PATTERN OF WORK HOURS(a) - 2000 (a) ln the main job of people who are an employee in their main job. Source: ABS 2000 Survey of Employment Arrangements and Superannuation. Entitlements Over recent decades, some employers and employees have expressed a desire for change that embraces more diverse, more flexible, and more 'family-friendly' working arrangements. Wider access to maternity leave, paternity leave, parental leave, and carer’s leave are examples of such desired change, which is likely to have been influenced in part by increasing workforce participation of women during this period of time. In 2000, nearly half of all female employees (45%) were entitled to some paid maternity leave. A similar proportion of male employees (44%) had an entitlement to some paid paternity leave. Higher proportions of both male and female employees were entitled to paid sick leave, and to paid holiday leave, and almost all employees were covered by either workers' compensation or income protection insurance. PROPORTION OF EMPLOYEES WITH SELECTED ENTITLEMENTS(a)(b) - 2000 (a) ln the main job of people who are an employee in their main job. (b) Those who did not know if they had a particular entitlement were excluded prior to the calculation of that proportion. Source: ABS 2000 Survey of Employment Arrangements and Superannuation. Continuity of employment Confidence about having ongoing paid employment may influence people's decisions about, and ability to undertake, long-term commitments such as raising children, entering into mortgages, and borrowing to invest or to purchase assets such as cars, furniture and appliances. A move away from permanent employment towards contract employment, which promises a job for only a specified period of time, and casual employment, in which there is not necessarily an expectation of continuing employment, could generate concern among some people about diminishing job security. In 2000, 3% of employees with leave entitlements expected to leave their job within a year because of economic or work-related reasons (including the ending of a fixed-term contract). The proportion was higher among employees who considered themselves to be employed on a casual basis, with 7% expecting to leave their job within a year for these reasons. Also in 2000, 5% of people who worked as an employee in their main job were employed on a fixed-term contract basis. The majority of these people did not expect to have to leave their job when their contract ended, with 72% expecting their contract to be renewed. SELECTED CHARACTERISTICS OF THE MAIN JOB OF EMPLOYEES(a) - 2000
Source: ABS 2000 Survey of Employment Arrangements and Superannuation.
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