Tuesday, 14 May 2024

Sick pay guarantee

Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (20:41): (888) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Employment, and the action that I seek is for the Labor government to reverse its decision to end the sick pay guarantee. Just a few months ago the now Deputy Premier said:

People shouldn’t be forced to choose between going to work sick or putting food on the table …

Those words came after the announcement that the sick pay guarantee for casual workers would be expanded to include rideshare drivers, hairdressers, childcare workers and more. Heck, I was at the Midsumma Festival and the sick pay guarantee had its own stall. But that support for Victorian workers just means nothing now apparently. You have already gutted WorkCover for Victorians, and now you are coming after sick pay. We already know why we need this program. There are many reasons, one of which being that due to the extreme casualisation of the workforce more and more workers, especially in industries with a higher percentage of women, have to work unreliable hours as their primary source of income. And extra casual loading does not make up for the fact that workers do not have a consistent income to even budget for a day off, because likely their hours will then be cut the next week. This is extremely stress-inducing, especially now in a cost-of-living crisis. You knew this. Your own consultation clearly mapped out why this program was needed. The Treasurer even said in 2022:

The Victorian sick pay guarantee will provide the safety net our most vulnerable workers need and indeed deserve.

But now you are trying to rewrite history and pretend that workers do not need this. The Greens had asked on numerous occasions for Labor to expand this initiative to include more casual and contract workers who are left behind, like casual teachers, for instance. But now Labor, the party for workers, has just decided to leave all of them behind. You have cut the sick pay guarantee, you have shafted workers. Shame on you.