Sick pay guarantee
Gabrielle DE VIETRI (Richmond) (10:30): In 2022, just before the state election in fact, Labor announced the sick pay guarantee so that casual and contract workers could access sick pay. The Greens have fought long and hard for workers rights and for a living wage for artists, so it was a small victory when in August last year Labor expanded the eligibility criteria so that it would include the arts. At the time Labor said that they were proud – and so they should have been – to expand the sick pay guarantee because they knew how important it was to Victorians. They said insecure work had terrible consequences, that no worker should be forced to choose between a day’s pay and their health and that workers would now have the safety net needed to take time off when sick. But only eight months later, now with Labor’s budget as part of $1.7 billion of cuts, they are axing the sick pay guarantee before the trial period has even ended. Because of Labor, 22 per cent of our workforce that are employed casually in hospo, in retail and in the arts will once again face lost income when they are sick. What can I say? I hope the Premier tips her barista.