Casual and labour for hire are two different ways of employing people. Casual hire is based on short-term contracts, while labour hire on a more permanent employment arrangement. In this article, the differences between the two recruiting methods will briefly be discussed.
Comparison between the two ways of employment
“Labour hire” refers to the practice where a company offers people long-term contracts. Usually, these employees have specific skills and knowledge which can benefit the business on an ongoing basis.
“Casual labour hire” on the other hand, is the process where casual employees are employed for a short term only. Generally speaking, a business needs casual labourers for hire to provide seasonal workers or temporarily stand in for permanent workers on leave.
Pros and cons – comparison
Workers
- Permanently employed workers or persons who have contracts which are renewable every year have long-term employment security. Casual hired workers, however, don’t know whether the business will re-hire them or not.
- Usually, long-term contracts include benefits such as vacation time, sick leave arrangements and retirement insurance plans. Generally, casual employees don’t have any of these benefits.
- Short-term workers don’t have the privilege of their labour-hired colleagues who are often given the opportunity for professional development and acquiring of new skills.
Employers
- Employees with long-term contracts are, usually, loyal towards the business they are working for. Casual workers don’t have the same loyalty and don’t contribute to the positive work atmosphere that permanent employees do.
- The fewer workers with short-term contracts are used for tasks not related to seasonable needs the more workplace stability is experienced. A stable work environment is essential for any business.
- An important benefit for a business to use casual labour is the easy way it can change its workforce when needs change or season-related smaller profits occur.
