The trial, developed by the Victorian government in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, would provide up to five days of sick or carers leave, at minimum wage rates, to casual workers in high-risk industries such as hospitality, cleaning and aged care.

24-year-old Kaitlin Roesler is currently working four jobs and said that paid sick leave for casuals would be most beneficial when it comes to getting a COVID test or having to quarantine.

She recently returned from Queensland and had to get a COVID test, waiting two days for the results and losing four shifts in that time.

"[I was] stressing about how long a test would take to come back, and couldn't afford to take time off work," she said.

Damon Schmetzer, who runs the espresso bar out of the Thirsty Crow Brewery, can definitely see the benefits of paid sick leave for casuals.

"It's a good incentive for casuals ... it makes them feel like they don't have to go to work if they are well and truly sick," the 25-year-old said.

"I know a few people who would go, 'Ah, I'll just go to work with a cold', because they can't afford to not earn that money."

Despite the benefits, Mr Schmetzer said that from a business owner perspective, he could see people taking advantage of the scheme.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Hospitality worker Amber Rose-Walker argues that paid sick leave would help remove some of the guilt employees feel when taking time off from understaffed workplaces.

"I've never worked in a hospitality industry where we haven't been short staffed, where you haven't felt like you couldn't do with another person," she said.

Ms Rose-Walker said that in the past she has had multiple hospitality jobs, sometimes working up to 16 hours in one day.

"You get run down, you get exhausted and half the time the demand is so high," she said.

"You suck it up because you're like, 'Well if I don't work, I don't get paid."

All in all, the casual workers have felt supported by the government throughout the pandemic with schemes like JobSeeker and JobKeeper in place. Mr Schmetzer said one of the biggest challenges has been losing that face-to-face interaction, which impacted upon workplace morale.

"We are a very fun, customer service environment, we sort of thrive on face-to-face interaction and that sort of stuff," he said.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: