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Safeguarding the global contingent workforce? Guestworkers in Australia

Stefanie Toh (School of Organisation and Management, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia)
Michael Quinlan (School of Organisation and Management, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia)

International Journal of Manpower

ISSN: 0143-7720

Article publication date: 14 August 2009

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine occupational health and safety (OHS) and workers' compensation legal entitlements and policy issues raised by the use of foreign temporary workers under the s457 visa scheme in Australia.

Design/methodology/approach

Interviews were conducted with 15 representatives of unions and employers along with written responses from government agencies and examination of government statistics, court and other documents.

Findings

The study suggests that foreign temporary workers can face significant difficulty in accessing their OHS rights and entitlements. This represents a challenge for government as well as unions and human resource professionals trying to manage workforce diversity.

Research limitations/implications

Further detailed investigation is required into the extent of problems identified in this paper in Australia and other countries.

Practical implications

The study indicates that governments making use of guestworkers need to investigate whether these workers have effective access to the protection of OHS and workers' compensation laws and, if not, as indicated by this study, to make suitable policy interventions.

Originality/value

The human resource implications of managing guestworkers have been under‐researched to date despite the global growth in numbers. The paper starts to fill this gap, identifying a number of important policy issues in relation to OHS.

Keywords

Citation

Toh, S. and Quinlan, M. (2009), "Safeguarding the global contingent workforce? Guestworkers in Australia", International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 30 No. 5, pp. 453-471. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437720910977652

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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