After working for eight hours in the online department of a big retailer in Melbourne, Ben* packed up, notified his supervisor and left.
He was two hours short of finishing a 10-hour shift. It was not only an act of defiance but also genuine exhaustion that prevented him from finishing his shift.
“There are good reasons why Australians fought for an eight-hour working day” he says. He was one of many workers, most of them in their 20s, who were made to work 10-hour shifts during the pandemic.
Ben, 23, a university student, had been working at the same retail store for over two years on a regular basis and was given shifts that would fit with his studies.
“I liked working there. There was a good team of mostly young people, and a good understanding with the team leaders about the shifts I was working. I could work there often while I was going to university. Then one day, we were told that all our shifts from now on would be 10-hours-long,” he recalls.
There are good reasons why Australians fought for an eight-hour working day
Ben was among several workers who approached team leaders and managers trying to explain that the 10-hour shifts would impact severely their studies, family life and further employment opportunities. Lina* was amongst them.
The online department was one of her two jobs, the other one being in hospitality. During the pandemic when her waitressing job dried up, she picked up work as a packer for online orders. When the restrictions were lifted, she kept both jobs “because being casual is unreliable, it’s safer to have two jobs.”
“It was stressful because basically, I had no free time,” she adds. To keep up with university assignments, the only time she could find was in the tram while going from one job to the next or during her lunchbreak.
"I expected a bit more respect to be honest" says Lina who was left in a precarious financial position when she was made to work 10 hour shifts Source: supplied by Lina
“When I started at the online department, I was told that there were no ongoing part-time or full-time positions, and that all jobs were casual. Months later, I discovered that was not the case,” Lina says.
The mandatory 10-hour shifts placed Lina in a highly precarious position because she had to turn down work in her hospitality job when the sector opened again in Victoria.
“When you are casual, you don’t say ‘no’ often, you just can’t afford it,” she says.
According to Lina, workers under 25 make the biggest demographic in the online department where she works, with a “heavy emphasis on international students and migrants”.
Online orders relied heavily on casual workers during the pandemic Source: Pixabay
“Because it wasn’t a customer-facing role, your English-speaking wasn’t much of a problem. I had many colleagues from South America and China,” she says.
Jess* was another university student who worked alongside Ben and Lina. She also had to choose from her three casual jobs when the mandatory 10-hour shift was introduced.
When you are casual, you don’t say ‘no’ often, you just can’t afford it
She had spent almost four years in that department, and says she was highly regarded for her efficiency and positive attitude.
“The decision for the compulsory 10-hour shifts was a major and sudden change in my working conditions,” she says.
“It was justified on the basis of increasing accuracy. It made no sense, as productivity and accuracy were already high – over 90 per cent – and they were risking losing experienced and efficient workers. How would that help productivity,” she wonders.
Ben, Lina, Jess and others tried to contact their senior management to find a solution to their problem, only to be told that the company had “just hired 130 new casual workers willing to work any shift”.
“We were basically told in no uncertain terms that it was this way or the highway,” they say.
Many hit the web trying to find information and wondering about the legality of mandating 10-hour shifts. They discovered that anything up to a 12-hour shift is legal, as long as the total working hours in a week don’t exceed 38. “I’ve enquired through various avenues and realised that casual workers have little, if any, protection,” says Lina.
Tiarne Crowther, a solicitor with the Young Workers Centre, says that cases like this come through all the time but admits that mandating 10-hour shifts is unusual.
“Unfortunately, this is a real demonstration of the state of our workplace laws and how they fail young workers and migrant workers and people in insecure work,” said Ms Crowther.
In her opinion, the problem lies with the definition of a casual worker in the Fair Work Act. It is defined as someone “with no firm, advanced commitment of work” and that exposes casual workers to all sorts of amendments in their working conditions while giving them little choice.
“Because of that definition in the law, there’s really very little they can do,” Ms Crowther says. “At the Young Workers’ Centre, we believe that this is so problematic because that relates not only to your economic security but also your wellbeing and OHS (occupational health and safety). Working these really long shifts can be dangerous,” she adds.
Unfortunately, this is a real demonstration of the state of our workplace laws and how they fail young workers and migrant workers and people in insecure work
According to Lina, Jess and Ben, up to 30 workers from their workplace have since resigned.
Among them was Marcus*, who had spent five years with the company. His role was mostly administrative with supervisory duties with a “very diverse team, with many young people, all of them students and a lot of recent immigrants”.
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He voiced his objections when the new policy came in, although he says, he was not really affected by it.
However, “the expectation of that alone was irritating to me along with how recalcitrant our management was in regard to it … the people working there were seen as a resource to be consumed… which I was disgusted by. These were diligent, honest, hardworking people,” he says, explaining his reasons to resign and admits he had the financial means to do so.
A Fair Work Ombudsman spokesperson in a written statement to SBS Greek said, “the Fair Work Ombudsman prioritises the protection of vulnerable workers such as international students and young workers and seeks to ensure they are aware of their workplace rights and know how to seek help with workplace issues”.
Shopping was moved online during the pandemic with retailers relying on thousands of casual workers to deliver the orders. Source: Pixabay
the people working there were seen as a resource to be consumed
Adding or removing shifts at the last minute and without notice was another frustrating and stressful aspect for workers at Ben’s workplace.
The rosters were accessed through an app.
Lina says that she and her colleagues had to check the app every single day to keep on top of any changes.
“Sometimes they would cut a shift, or they would add a shift without telling you and if you didn’t realise you had a shift, you were marked as ‘No Show’ and that would, potentially, harm your ability to get shifts in the future,” she recalls.
Ben and Jess agree that turning down shifts carried the risk of dropping out of the roster.
“That’s what happened when we refused to continue with the 10-hour shifts. Our shifts were wiped out, our names disappeared from the roster" says Lina adding that she faced similar rostering issues in the hospitality industry.
On this, the Fair Work Ombudsman spokesperson stated that “changes to rosters or hours of work generally do not apply to employees whose working hours are irregular, sporadic or unpredictable”.
Lack of transparency and communication were major issues for the casual workers when 10-hour shifts were mandated but according to Marcus, Jess, Ben and Lina, the “lack of respect” was the final straw.
They knew we were students; they knew we had other jobs and we were the ones who would come in during lockdowns and slog it out. I expected a bit more respect to be honest, Lina says.
Unlike Jess and Lina, Ben’s only job was at the online department.
When his shifts dried up, his income stream stopped. So did his ability to apply for Jobseeker. His financial independence was seriously crippled as he relied on his savings to get by while he was job-hunting.
But it was the rigid attitude of his employer and the lack of respect that hurt him the most. “We live in a liberal democracy and we like that. We value Australia for that, so why can’t we have democracy in the workplace", he asks.
SBS Greek has sought comment from the Australian Retailers Association and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Ben, Lina, Jess and Marcus were born in Australia to migrant parents from Greece, China, Lebanon and Syria. Since speaking to SBS Greek, they have found employment in their field of expertise or have been able to pursue further studies.
*Names changed to protect identity.
--With inputs from TJ Correa (SBS Filipino)
