symmetryofzero

symmetryofzero t1_j224otl wrote

Keeping in mind I am talking generally here, and am not a lawyer etc.

You can employ someone as "casual" which means you basically work shift to shift - and generally they only have to give 1 day/shift notice for termination. You don't earn PTO on casual. Usually these employees are paid a better rate. But they have less perks. Casual work is pretty good in certain scenarios, I've done it before.

But to attract good workers, workplaces are usually permanent. There's usually a 6 month probation period - in which the first 6 months they can fire you if they're not happy with your performance etc. After being made permanent, they need a really good reason to fire someone (wilful negligence etc).

TLDR: Labour laws/unions are great.

If a company does the dodgy, they're opening their selves up to litigation.

I'm not saying it doesn't happen in Australia, but I would imagine it happens a lot less than the US etc.

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symmetryofzero t1_j21g5jq wrote

Lucky in Australia our laws aren't written by companies. It's by law ya get minimum 4 weeks PTO plus 2 weeks sick PTO (for permanent full time employees) - every year. And it carries over every year.

That's very sad someone had 1600hrs leave accumulated, that means they didn't take much leave during the years!

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symmetryofzero t1_j20k87s wrote

What a ridiculous system you have over there. In Australia you can carry over your PTO virtually unlimited. If your balance gets too high your employer will usually encourage you to take some tho.

I've only got 1 week PTO at the moment, but I also have 4 weeks paid sick leave saved up too.

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