Industry Workforce Analysis: Contract Cleaning

ACT Long Service Leave Authority 2020

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Index

1. Background 3

1.1 The Scheme 3

1.2 Overview of the Authority’s registered employee & employer database 3

1.3 Data scope 3

2. Point in time analysis 5

2.1 Number of employees and positions 5

2.2 Multiple position holders 5

2.3 Length of service 6

2.4 Turnover rates 7

2.5 Age of workers 8

2.6 Median wages by sub-sector 9

2.7 Median wages by age 10

2.8 Median wages by length of service 10

2.9 Organisation size 11

3. Time series analysis 13

3.1 Number of positions and registered individuals in the Industry 13

3.2 Number of positions by sub-sector 14

3.3 Growth rate of registered positions 14

3.4 Sub-sector share of Industry positions 15

3.5 Median ages 16

3.6 Wage growth over time 17

3.7 Organisational size 18

4. Glossary 20

Disclaimer: This report has been compiled from data held in the ACT Long Service Leave Authority’s database as described in chapter 1.3. Information in this report is provided ‘as is’ and neither the ACT Long Service Leave Authority, nor Insight Consulting Australia, make any assurances about the accuracy or completeness of this information.

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1. Background

1.1 The Scheme The ACT Long Service Leave Authority was established in 2010 under the Long Service Leave (Portable Leave Schemes) Act 2009. The Authority administers portable long service leave benefit schemes for the:

Building and Construction Industry Contract Cleaning Industry Community Sector Industry Security Industry

The schemes enable workers (whether part time, full time, casual or sub-contractor) to transfer from employer to employer without losing their accrued service entitlements. The Contract Cleaning Scheme was established on 24 June 2000. Effective from 1 July 2016 coverage under this scheme was extended to include waste workers and their employers. Contract Cleaning Industry employers are legally required to register with the Authority and declare the wages and days worked for all employees via quarterly returns (via an online portal). The Authority carries out education and compliance activities to ensure organisations are aware of and meet their legal responsibilities under the Act.

1.2 Overview of the Authority’s registered employee & employer database All registered employees and employers are allocated a unique identification number within the Authority’s database. Each employer is allocated one primary classification such as contract cleaning, waste sorting or waste collection. Quarterly reports detailing service and ordinary wages for each employee are submitted by employers. The greater the length of time that an employee works within the industry the more quarterly reports will be submitted and held in the Authority database. For example, if a worker is employed by a single employer for one year, then four separate quarterly reports will be held against their registration number during that time. If they are employed for five years, the system will hold 20 quarterly reports. If an employee works for more than one employer, a separate report will be returned for each position, for each quarter (or part thereof) they are employed. If an employer changes their employer, then a separate quarterly return will be submitted by each respective employer during the quarterly reporting period, noting the employee’s start and cease date. When an employee ceases work in the Industry, they can remain inactive for four years. In the lead up to the mark of four years, the Authority posts a letter to the ceased employee’s registered address advising them that their account will be deregistered if they have not had service recorded for four years. Once a worker has a break from the industry for more than four years, their account with the Authority is deregistered. Any positions that remain vacant for an entire three-month reporting period are uncaptured in the data. 1.3 Data scope For the purposes of this analysis, the Authority generated a file of quarterly returns for a six-year period, from the time period of 1 July 2013 to 30 June 2019. The file contained 73,560 records, relating to 7,308 unique workers. The table below provides a breakdown of the registration status of these workers as at 11 July 2019:

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Number of workers reported between 1 January 2013 to 31 December 2018 by registration status (as at 18 Apr 2019)

Active (Employee) 2,802

Active (Contractor - Working Director) 1

Active (Ceased) 2,085

Active (4 Year Rule No Letter Sent) 102

Active (4 Year Rule Letter Sent) 253

Deregistered (Deceased) 4

Deregistered (Deregistered) 1,588

Deregistered (Paid out) 112

Inactive (Greater than 5 years of service, but not paid out)

56

Inactive (Greater than 55 days of service, registered pre-July 2012, aged 55+, but not paid out)

38

Pending 265

Inactive (Interstate-Ignore 4 year rule)

2

TOTAL 7,308

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2. Point in time analysis

The point in time analysis presented in this chapter relates to the status of the industry as at 30 June 2019. In this analysis, records included in the April-June 2019 return which relate to positions where the worker has stopped working for the employer before 30 June 2019 are ignored. This eliminates the double counting that occurs in a quarterly report when one employee leaves and another starts in the same position. In this scenario there is only one position and only one worker at any time. This type of point in time analysis is the same methodology used by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in conducting the five yearly Census of Population and Housing.

2.1 Number of employees and positions As at 30 June 2019, there were 2,592 employees working in a total of 3,119 positions.

Contract Cleaning held the largest number of positions (2,996) followed by Waste Workers (123)

2.2 Multiple position holders A notable proportion of workers in the Industry concurrently held more than one position. As at 30 June 2019, 17.2 per cent of workers held more than one position, with 31.2% of Industry positions filled by a multiple position holder.

17.9 per cent of workers in the Contract Cleaning sub-sector held more than one position, with 32.2% of positions filled by a multiple position holder.

3.3 per cent of workers in the Waste Workers sub-sector held more than one position, with 3.3% of positions filled by a multiple position holder.

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

Contract Cleaning Waste Workers

Number of positions by sub-sector, 30 June 2019

7

The median length of service for Contract Cleaning Industry workers covered by the Scheme was three years. Half of all workers had three years or less of experience, and half had three years or more. The average (mean) length of service could not be accurately determined as the Authority only records service from 24 June 2000 onwards. Cleaning Industry employees registered with the Scheme become eligible to access long service leave of 6.06 weeks after 7 years of service in the industry. The file generated by the Authority for this analysis did not indicate which eligible employees had already accessed leave.

2.4 Turnover rates Turnover rates are a valuable source of information for workforce planning, as they highlight the burden of recruitment and orientation efforts, and show the degree of success in retaining workers in their current positions. The three-month (1 April 2019 - 30 June 2019) turnover rate in positions in various sub-sectors is shown below. Note that a portion of those exiting their positions are moving to other positions in the same sector or within the Industry and are then represented as New Workers.

QUARTERLY TURNOVER RATES

SUB-SECTOR NEW WORKERS RETAINED WORKERS EXITING WORKERS

Contract Cleaning 326

10.9%

2,557

85.3%

113

3.8%

Waste Workers 8

6.0%

115

93.0%

0

0%

The sub-sector with the highest proportion of their workforce as new entrants was Contract Cleaning (10.9 per cent over the three-month period) followed by Waste Workers (6 per cent).

718

497

343

271

189 195

124 113 89 63 57 39 52 34 22

129184

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

1 yearor less

1 year 2 years 3 years 4 years 5 years 6 years 7 years 8 years 9 years 10years

11years

12years

13years

14years

15years

16years

Length of time in the the Industry

9

2.6 Median wages by sub-sector Wages are a reflection of hours worked, and the Contract Cleaning Industry has a lower proportion of full-time workers. It is not possible to determine which workers within the Authority database are employed full-time, however general information is available from the 2016 Census of Population and Housing. In 2016, 35 per cent of those employed from the group comprised of Commercial Cleaner, Domestic Cleaner or Housekeeper worked full time, compared to 72 per cent of all workers in the ACT economy. The Census also showed that the median Industry income was lower than the median income of all ACT workers.1 The wages of employees are outlined below. Note that the figures show wages paid per position, so multiple position holders will naturally collect more than one salary.

1 Australian Bureau of Statistics 2016, Census of Population and Housing (2016), TableBuilder. Findings based on use of ABS TableBuilder data

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

Under 25 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 and older

Age distribution of Waste Workers, 30 June 2019

$29,240

$55,196

$0

$10,000

$20,000

$30,000

$40,000

$50,000

$60,000

Contract Cleaning Waste Workers

Median Annual Gross Ordinary Pay

10

Median Annual Gross Ordinary Pay

Median Quarterly Gross Ordinary Pay

Median Daily Pay

Contract Cleaning $29,240 $7,310 $82

Waste Workers $55,196 $13,799 $152

2.7 Median wages by age As at 30 June 2019, the age cohorts with the highest median pay rate were the 45-54 and 55-64 age groups. It is postulated that the correlation between higher age and higher pay rates is a reflection of greater industry experience amongst these workers. Median Annual Gross

Ordinary Pay Median Quarterly

Gross Ordinary Pay Median Daily Pay

Under 25 years of age $29,412 $7,353 $83

25-34 years of age $26,776 $6,694 $76

35-44 years of age $29,756 $7,439 $83

45-54 years of age $34,232 $8,558 $95

55-64 years of age $34,904 $8,726 $96

65 years and older $32,124 $8,031 $88

2.8 Median wages by length of service Those with less than one year of service in the Industry had the lowest annual gross ordinary pay ($22,360). There is a loose association with length of industry service and higher wages.

$0

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

$20,000

$25,000

$30,000

$35,000

$40,000

$45,000

1 yearor less

1-2years

2-3years

3-4years

4-5years

5-6years

6-7years

7-8years

8-9years

9-10years

10-11years

11-12years

12-13years

13-14years

14-15years

15-16years

16-17years

Median Annual Gross Ordinary Pay, by length of service in Industry

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Length of Industry service

Median Annual Gross Ordinary Pay

Median Quarterly Gross Ordinary Pay

Median Daily Pay

1 year or less $22,360 $5,590 $67

1-2 years $29,520 $7,380 $82

2-3 years $35,520 $8,880 $98

3-4 years $30,576 $7,644 $85

4-5 years $30,536 $7,634 $84

5-6 years $28,156 $7,039 $78

6-7 years $29,696 $7,424 $82

7-8 years $36,036 $9,009 $100

8-9 years $32,580 $8,145 $90

9-10 years $37,440 $9,360 $103

10-11 years $32,596 $8,149 $91

11-12 years $40,704 $10,176 $112

12-13 years $39,416 $9,854 $108

13-14 years $35,624 $8,906 $98

14-15 years $37,284 $9,321 $102

15-16 years $35,656 $8,914 $98

16-17 years $36,960 $9,240 $102

2.9 Organisation size As at 30 June 2019, there were 127 registered employers in the Industry, with 118 recording service for at least one employee in the Apr-Jun quarter. The mode (most frequent) number of employees per organisation was less than 10, with 57 per cent of all positions being held by an organisation of this size.

The median number of positions per employer was 26.

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More than half of all positions (51 per cent) in the Industry were held by the top ten largest employers, while the proportion of positions held by the top 20 largest employers was 70 per cent.

67

2015

85 3

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

Less than 10employees

10-24 employees 25-49 employees 50-99 employees 100-199 employees 200 employees ormore

Number of organisations by number of employees

13

3. Time series analysis

The time series analysis seeks to identify trends within the overall Industry and various sub-sectors. Yearly figures were determined by averaging the results of the four quarterly reports. The number of records and the number of individuals increased steadily over each progressive quarter.

3.1 Number of positions and registered individuals in the Industry The number of positions reported by registered employers grew between 2013/14 and 2018/19, as well as the number of registered individuals.

2,837 2,943 2,9363,089

3,2283,359

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019

Average number of positions across reporting periods

2,444 2,434 2,4422,565 2,591

2,711

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019

Average number of individuals across reporting periods

14

3.2 Number of positions by sub-sector The number of positions reported by registered employers grew for Contract Cleaning and Waste Sorting between 2016/17 and 2018/19.

Number of positions by sub-sector

2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019

Contract Cleaning 3,008 3,136 3,235

Waste Workers 81 92 124

Total 3,089 3,228 3,359

3.3 Growth rate of registered positions The number of positions in most sub-sectors increased over the 2016/17 to 2018/19 reporting period, as shown below:

Growth rate of positions by sub-sector, 2013/14 to 2018/19

Contract Cleaning 7%

Waste Workers 53%

Total 8%

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019

Median number of positions in Industry, 2013/14 to 2018/19

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3.4 Sub-sector share of Industry positions The Contract Cleaning sub-sector remained the largest sub-sector between 2016/17 to 2018/2019. 2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019

Contract Cleaning 97% 97% 96%

Waste Workers 3% 3% 4%

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019

Median number of positions in Contract Cleaning, 2016/17 to 2018/19

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019

Median number of positions in Waste Workers, 2016/17 to 2018/19

16

3.5 Median ages The median age of workers in the Industry was 40.8 years in 2018/2019.

41.6 41.4 41.5 41.3 41.1 40.8

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019

Industry median ages, 2013/14 to 2018/19

41.2 41 40.8

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019

Contract Cleaning median ages, 2016/17 to 2018/19

45.1 43.941.6

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019

Waste Workers median ages, 2016/17 to 2018/19

18

2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019

Contract Cleaning $26,740

$26,907

$27,999

Waste Workers $59,309

$56,055

$53,180

Total $27,595

$27,733

$28,926

3.7 Organisational size Over the six-year period, there were 196 unique employers recorded and not all employers remained active throughout the reporting period.

Between 2013/14 and 2018/19, the number of employers increased by 20.6 per cent (from 102 to 123 employers). During the same time period, the number of positions increased by 18 per cent (from 2,837 to 3,359 positions).

The median number of positions per employer remained fairly stable.

2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019

Number of employers 102 103 101 112 119 123

Number of positions 2,837 2,943 2,936 3,089 3,228 3,359

Median number of positions per employer

27.8 28.6 29.1 27.6 27.1 27.3

Number of employers by number of workers recording service

2013/2014 2014/2015 2015/2016 2016/2017 2017/2018 2018/2019

Less than 10 employees

53 53 56 63 70 66

10-24 employees 24 20 18 19 19 24

25-49 employees 14 17 14 15 15 16

50-99 employees 5 6 5 8 8 9

100-199 employees 7 7 7 5 6 5

200 employees or more

1 1 2 2 2 3

102 103 101 112 119 123

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4. Glossary Analytics Drawing conclusions from raw data.

Baseline A starting point in the data, against which future progress is measured.

Cohort A group of people sharing the same characteristic, such as year of birth.

Construct validity The degree to which a research instrument accurately measures a theoretical

concept.

Internal validity

The degree of rigour related to the research study design, the selection of study instruments, the process of conducting research, and the method of attributing findings to the study intervention rather than other confounding factors.

Mean A mean is derived from adding up all results then dividing this number by the total number of items. The mean is commonly referred to as an average.

Median A median is derived by lining up all results in order from smallest to largest. The median is the middle point at which half of the values (or participants) are above and half are below.

Missing data values A data gap results from participants unintentionally skipping questions, refusing to answer particular questions, or providing information in an incomprehensible manner.

Mode A mode is the response that occurs the most frequently.

Rigour The result of scrupulously and meticulously drawing conclusions solely from evidence, rather than from a pre-determined opinion, conviction or bias.

Trajectory An anticipated future destination, based on an examination of past data trends and known confounding factors (e.g. a workforce population projection).