Job seekers say job providers put them in positions where they are given biweekly shifts, have to clean up large amounts of human feces, and have their pay cut off following the death of a close family member.
In one case, Rebecca, who did not want her surname used, said disability provider Multiple Solutions registered her as a sole contractor and assigned her to clean an aged care home in Gawler, South Australia, without telling her. She was technically self-employed.
“They told me they found me a job…they never brought up that it was self-employment,” he said.
The complaint, sent by the social worker to the Department of Social Services, states that Rebecca had poor math skills and difficulty with literacy and needed assistance filling out forms. Multiple Solutions said it could not comment on specific circumstances but the disability provider supports “choice and control” among job seekers.
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Rebecca said that after she started work, the social worker asked her what kind of contract she had signed and noticed that there was no tax-related information on the payslip.
He said that an ABN was set up for him months ago, but he did not understand what it was for.
“I was scared because you know if you don’t pay taxes you get fined so you could get in trouble,” Rebecca said. “I think they should explain that.”
Rebecca’s support worker is currently helping move providers, but this has left Rebecca feeling distressed.
In late November, a devastating review of the Workforce Australia system said decades of complete privatization of Australia’s employment services system had failed and called on the government to re-establish an interstate employment agency.
I had seven bags of dirty feces and urine and had to remove them from the facility
Brad
But welfare advocates say this doesn’t go far enough; the committee avoided eliminating reciprocal obligations, the policy that forces job seekers to complete tasks such as applying for jobs or attending training or their payments are stopped. They say the provider system, which will cost $9.5 billion over the next four years, is pushing people into unstable roles.
Brad, who did not want his real name used, was an education consultant who worked frequently with WISE, one of the nation’s largest job providers. After suffering a mental breakdown last year, she chose the provider to help her find work.
One of the jobs WISE helped secure was as an in-home caregiver for Home Instead, one of the largest care providers in the country. However, he was only offered a few hours of work each week. Over a two-week period, his pay stub showed he was paid only $28.73 for one hour of work.
“I wouldn’t call it employment,” he said.
“The problem wasn’t just a one-hour or seven-hour shift here and there — then nothing for the rest of the week — it was the fact that it’s your gas, it’s your transportation. “There was no way to block off the parking lot or anything like that.”
He says he had to clean up human feces during one shift. “I had seven bags of dirty feces and urine and had to remove them from the facility.”
She claims she was threatened with her payments being suspended when she told WISE she didn’t want to do the job for one hour a week.
Brad then went to another employment provider, JobCo, where he said he started working full-time in his education sector within eight weeks.
‘I’m afraid to say no to providers’
Brock Chaplain, a job seeker in New South Wales, said his payments were stopped by his job provider Global Skills after he failed to turn up for an appointment a week after his mother died in September this year. He later said he was forced to attend meetings that conflicted with when he was at his paid day job.
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After her mother died, Global Skills offered Chaplain counseling but moved up her appointment by two weeks. She said she did not attend because she was upset and her payments were suspended.
“They told me, ‘Oh, yeah, everything’s fine, no problem,’ but they still cut off my payments and called me and had it all reworked,” the pastor said.
In August, he emailed his work provider saying he had taken an extra shift at work and needed to reschedule a meeting. In the return email, the provider requested that she come into the office on her lunch break because it was in the same mall.
“Unfortunately, I do not understand how your work responsibilities are unreasonable,” the employment consultant wrote in his reply email.
“When receiving financial aid from the government, you have certain conditions according to our participation plan.”
The pastor said he missed work “at least three or four times” because of meeting times.
Guardian Australia contacted each of the employment providers and were told they were unable to comment on individual cases.
“WISE Employment is one of Australia’s leading not-for-profit employment services providers and has more than 15,000 interactions with community members every day,” a spokesperson said.
“However, if an employer has failed to meet any of its obligations or expectations, WISE Employment will work with clients to understand their rights and support them to remedy the situation if necessary.”
A spokesperson for Multiple Solutions said: “Multiple Solutions is committed to being a trusted partner for all people with a disability, illness or injury looking for work, and we are proud of our commitment to our customers.”
Benefits advocate and Australian Unemployed Workers Union officer Jeremy Poxon said the organization was contacted every week by people “who say their providers are jeopardizing their paid employment with constant appointments, payroll information and other mutual obligation requirements”. .
“Most of the time providers don’t bother to place people in jobs; Rather, they throw them into meaningless, degrading activities that make it difficult to find work,” Poxon said.
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Asked by Greens senator Janet Rice what happens if a service provider acts inappropriately, according to Senate estimates earlier this year, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations said it did not pursue apologies or compensation but had “talked” to them.
“This will mean that there will be a conversation and then a discussion on ways to improve,” DEWR’s Claire McDonald said.
“While some providers do put people into work, the roles often have such terrible working hours, conditions and pay that no one would apply for them unless they had to,” Poxon said.
“Here our government is essentially funding providers to force disadvantaged people into the worst jobs in the labor market.”
Kate Allingham, chief executive of Economic Justice Australia, said the financial benefits of putting people into work meant some providers often pushed job seekers into precarious positions.
“You’re seeing people being forced into jobs that will worsen their health, jobs that pay low wages or lack training or experience,” he said. “People are often afraid to say no to service providers who may threaten to forfeit four weeks of payments due to ‘business refusal.’ And employers are faced with people who can’t do their jobs.”
Both DEWR, which funds employment providers, and DSS, which funds disability employment services, said they could not comment on individual circumstances.
A DSS spokesperson said Disability Employment Service (DES) providers are funded to help people with a disability, injury or health condition find and maintain sustainable employment. “Providers work with individual participants to look at their abilities, understand their motivations and goals.”