Types of Work In Australia

There are so many different types of work in Australia, that only to think about them I feel tired. But as far as who is interested is probably you not me, I will have to work to explain better to you. Also, the effort to explain everything, after all, the tax paid for someone else working in Australia may help to pay my retirement.

 Casual Work is the contract modality more often used by employers. The main reason is the fact that after working 3 months, for more than 40 hours per week, the employer must have to pay all rights to the employee. So, you will find hundreds of ads for casual jobs in the Saturday newspapers. The majority of theses ads are in the Hospitality and Tourism industry such as restaurants, hotels and take away. The Casual jobs more offered in these areas are for, cleaners, kitchen hands, chefs, bar tenders, etc...There are also plenty of jobs offered for cabinet makers, fibreglass specialists. For example they prefer to contract 2 Chefs for 25 hours per week each than contract only one for 40 hours and pay 10 extra hours apart. The problem of the casual work is that the person is at the mercy of the demand, meaning that usually there is no stability of time and days to work. If the employer needs you, he or she will give a call, if not you will be waiting until that happens. The good (or bad) point is that both you and the employer can quit your job at any time. The average casual worker earns something around A$ 500 per week.

Part-Time Work in Australia is more rare to see advertised. It has to be no more than 20 hours per week and the only difference from the casual is that there is a contract that stipulates day and hours to be worked. Part time workers have a contract with the same obligations and rights as the full time workers, such as sick leave and remunerated vacations. The part-time wages are in general less than well paid than the casual, because the entitlements at the other side is guaranteed by contract. Breaks are allowed only in the worker do more than 6 continuous working hours.

Full-Time Work in Australia, are responsible to the other 50% of the job market. It is considered full time a work which is not less than 38 hours per week and in case the employers needs extra working time from the employee he will have to pay extra hours. Today with the new legislation, this situation can be combined from both parties. Example: I contract you to work 40 hours from Tuesday to Sunday and I don't want to pay you double for the Sundays (usually 50% extra). It is take it, negotiate it or leave it. The legislation also allows to contract the person in first 3 months as casual, and if the worker corresponds with the expectations, then he or she will became Full-Time. Some people starting as casual later does not want to became Full-Time, as their wages will decrease but will be able to receive all the entitlements. All types of work in Australia are taxed as income. 

Cash in Hand as the mane says, is the pay workers receive in cash/ money, and depends on the employer to register taxes etc... It is not common, and sometimes it can be considered illegal if no registration of the employee is made.

Self Employed is the way the government defines people who have their own business, such as shop owners, computer technicians, plumbers, electricians, us, etc...For this category the person must be registered for Goods and Services Taxation (GST) plus must have an ABN Number (Australian Business Number). Both are very easy to get and usually you can open your own business in Australia in only one morning.

Husband & Wife:. Very popular small businesses, and normally a commercial shop, which is managed by the family with eventual aid from one of the kids or casual worker. This modality is very popular amongst Australian families. Most of these partnership business do well in the market but some times they and up in divorce. It is in the same category of Self Employed, but we put it apart because you will see lots of ads in the papers saying...Husband & Wife Business for sale. Depending of the size of the business they usually contract one or two casual workers to give a hand and a rest during some days of the week.

Shift Work is also plenty announced in the newspapers and it is nothing else than a casual or full time work with different time and days per week. It is in my opinion the worst category of work, because one day you work in the morning, the other can be in the nigh, and some other days in the afternoon. Usually they notice in advance your shift for a certain week, but sometimes shifts are not the same between a week and the next. Casinos for example adopt 24 hours shift work, and you may start your shift at 2 in the morning and end about noon.