Login
iscover
Agents are increasingly hiring ‘gig workers’ to cover the busy spring selling season, but if they are not alert they might find themselves in breach of Australia’s "out-of-date" workplace rules.
This is according to Charles Cameron of the Recruitment and Consulting Services Association, who says gig workers are experts “going from one ‘gig’ to the next”.
Speaking at the Buckmaster Hawkey Property Breakfast in Melbourne recently, Mr Cameron told the audience that under the Real Estate Industry Award, these people may soon have the legal right to be made permanent after six months.
He also said the workplace rules were decades out of date.
“Real estate agencies find themselves operating in a highly competitive and increasingly volatile market. They must be flexible to take advantage of the new economy, yet we still have employment conditions framed in the 1980s.
“It’s an even greater worry for agents outsourcing work through online work platforms where independent contracting is the norm. There is a lack of sophistication for such individuals without the capacity to operate as a genuine business.
“Real estate agents may not understand they are leaving themselves open to claims under Australia’s out-of-date employment law.”
Buckmaster Hawkey director Mark Appleby also said at the breakfast that workplace rules have not kept pace with the "great strides" digital technology has made in the real estate industry.
Mr Appleby said temp staff placements have increased from 15 to 40 per cent over the last four years, and that some businesses could find themselves caught out through not paying super or other legal entitlements.
[Related: The next wave of innovation in real estate ]
You are not authorised to post comments.
Comments will undergo moderation before they get published.