Casual and Temporary Employment

In 2006, Cabinet directed the Department of Labour to carry out research to explore the characteristics and extent of casual work in New Zealand.  This research was carried out throughout 2007 and comprised of engagement and promotional activities in target sectors that were carried out by Innovations and Systems Ltd; and a range of other research including a literature review, case law review and analysis of relevant surveys. This research was summarised in two reports that were provided to the Minister of Labour in July 2007.

Industry Engagement and Promotional Activities

The first report includes the results of the research carried out by Innovations and Systems Ltd. The findings summarised in this report are drawn from engagement with social partners, peak employer and union bodies, industry associations (where they exist), unions covering workers in the selected industries, individual employers and staff in the target industries (and supplementary research).  The key findings from this report are:

• We do not know the genuine incidence of casual and temporary work in New Zealand, but we will be getting better information;
• Non-standard work is not always the same as ‘bad work’, however, firms want flexibility to manage variable workflows, and flexibility can sometimes be abused;
• A tight labour market and structural change both affect the use of casual and temporary work;
• Part of the structural change is that businesses now organise their work differently;
• Anti-competitive behaviours can make wages and conditions ‘sticky’ for all;
• Addressing employment relationship status issues by itself won’t solve low pay and poor conditions or work more generally;
• Casual work allows some groups to participate in the labour market, but can disguise discrimination for others;
• There is a high degree of heterogeneity in casual and temporary work arrangements;
• Limited incidence of potentially unlawful practice;
• Effectiveness of current policies; and
• Effectiveness of current communications

Phase 1 Research

The second report summarises the additional parts of the research programme, and the central findings and themes arising from the Department of Labour’s research undertaken to date as part of its work programme on casual and temporary employment. The key findings from the second report are:

• Information on temporary and casual employment in New Zealand, and particularly information about how these work arrangements are trending or evolving and is subject to different interpretations.
• Quantitative data is particularly scarce, and there is an absence of contemporary longitudinal data around temporary and casual employment.
• Qualitative research indicates that employers are responding in different ways to skill and labour shortages for workers that are core to their business. 
• Employers use casual and temporary work arrangements to manage varying work flows and/or to keep costs down.  The degree of casualisation in the workforce varies from sector to sector.
• The research shows that for some groups of people casual work is the preferred work option, while others would prefer to have more permanency and/or predictability. 
• Research suggests that casual workers are slightly more likely to be female than male, aged under 25, and to be Maori rather than European. 
• Because temporary and casual jobs are found across sectors, and jobs range from highly skilled, high status and high earning jobs to those that are perceived to require few skills, it is hard to generalise about the consequences of these work arrangements for workers

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