The government is considering changes to the law for workers on some platforms. So what does this mean for the Hireup community?
The Federal Government is currently considering changes to the law which will impact how workers are treated on some platforms, including platforms in the NDIS. These are known as the ‘employee-like’ reforms.
We wanted to take some time to explain what is going on, and how it affects the Hireup community.
The Summary
The key takeaway for the Hireup community is that the proposed reforms will not impact Hireup or your use of the platform. This is because Hireup workers are already employees, and already enjoy many of the employment standards the government is seeking to extend to independent contractors on other platforms.
What are these laws about?
The government is considering changes to the law so that independent contractors who work on gig platforms (including in the NDIS) have guaranteed minimum standards. You might hear some people call these changes ‘employee-like’ reforms.
The government has grown concerned that not all independent contractors working on gig economy platforms are genuine small businesses. Instead, they are workers who have been misclassified and as a result, are missing out on critical protections. For example an independent contractor may not have insurance if they get injured at work, and they are not guaranteed a contribution to their superannuation savings for when they retire.
These planned laws will mean some gig platforms need to guarantee minimum standard for workers. Hireup thinks this is a good thing, as we believe support workers deserve good working conditions and protections at work.
Why are these changes unlikely to impact Hireup workers?
We do not believe the proposed laws will impact Hireup because we have always employed our support workers. Our workers do not need to be classified as ‘employee-like’ because they are already employees.
What does this mean for people with disabilities’ choice and control over their supports?
While we absolutely recognise there is fear and concern in parts of the community that these changes might reduce participant choice and control over who supports you and when, the reality is that these changes are very unlikely to impact on a participant's ability to choose who supports them, when, and how. Participants will always have a choice over who supports them, and these changes will not take away your right to choose an independent contractor. All they are doing is making sure the platforms who earn millions off the labour of support workers, also have some responsibility towards their wellbeing.
We may start seeing scare campaigns designed to pressure NDIS participants and workers to oppose the reforms on the basis that a platform can not do the right thing by their workers and provide choice and control.
As Hireup has proved since 2015, it is entirely possible for a company to do that while also offering clients absolute choice over their workers.
Where can I go to find out more?
We will continue to update this page as more is known about the legislation and the government’s timelines.
