krischan said:
By the way, what's meant with "out of the pocket expenses"?
Usually, in full-time employment (different to contractual/casual work in this case,) an employer will pay for all, or most of the training required for the job, including all time taken off of work to complete said training. If they hire you for full-time employment, and the job requires specific courses/training, the employer covers it. If legislation/certain clients require extra training, the employer will cover the training course required for the job, or at minimum, most of it, including paying for the time to complete the course/certificate.
If, however, the job is on a 'casual' basis, or yearly contract, the employer can give a job to someone else who has the required training/certificate. For "full-time casual" (casual employment working ~40hours per week but employed as Casual,) the employer will usually cover the cost as part of upskilling current staff. This keeps staff happy, but also provides incentives to work for the employer for longer periods, to continue gaining relevant experience and training. Casual workers can leave without warning for any reason, and also lose their job for practically any reason, so employers of casuals (in my field) are hesitant to upskill staff because it costs them "IF" the employee decides to quit immediately after receiving training (employees tend to shift between companies quite a bit in my field.) Keep in mind that most employers of my field only employ on Casual basis, despite generally requesting at least ~40 hours per week.
If the employer doesn't really care about employees, and the employee is on a casual/contract with the contract running out, the employer can simply offer that work to someone who has more official training courses/certificates, or request them to be taken, out of working hours (unpaid,) and at the persons expense. It is up to the individual person whether they want to pay for the course/certificate to keep the work, and even then, it is still up to the employer to take on the same person, or offer the position/contract to someone who already has it/has more relevant training.
There is no guarentee or requirements for the same person to get the contract/further employment.
In addition, some employees in my field say that potential staff must have their own PPE (personal protective equipment) including work-specific gear, clothing, overalls, chemical masks, gumboots, steel-caps, etc. If you don't have your own, the employer simply says they chose someone else, or that your employment relies on you providing your own safety gear. While legislation says that the employer is required to provide a safe working place, the employer simply employs someone who can provide their own safety equipment for no cost. Again, casual employment, and an abundance of staff willing or ignorant of employer requirements.
Google