Do you employ Casual staff in your business?
The Fair Work Act was amended in 2021 to change the workplace entitlements for Casual employees. This included 3 things.
The new definition of a casual employee is a person who accepts a job offer from an employer knowing that there is no firm advance commitment to ongoing work with an agreed pattern of work. Not much change there.
But there is now a pathway for Casual employees to become Permanent employees at the 12-month anniversary of their start date. It is called Casual Conversion.
There are eligibility requirements, exceptions that apply and processes that need to be followed. But it can be entered into either by:
If you are a Small Business Employer (you have <15 staff) you have no obligation to initiate this yourself, but your eligible staff are able to request it.
This applies to any Casual employee who starts in your business on or after 27 March 2021. However, in terms of existing Casual staff you already have on board, you will need to assess their eligibility and offer a Casual conversion or confirm why you are declining in writing by 27 September 2021.
To be eligible, a Casual employee must have:
There is no one definition for “regular & systematic” work. It does not just mean frequent, uniform or even often hours. But as a good test the hours will have some form of pattern (e.g. the same number of hours each week, or the same days each week) and there is a reasonable expectation of that continuing. Where there is no clear pattern or roster, evidence of regular and systematic employment can be established where:
