Casual employment provides significant flexibility, allowing employers to rapidly adjust staffing levels to match fluctuations in demand for a business' goods and services. Casual employees can accept or turn down work as suits their personal circumstances to provide them with greater working time flexibility.
Full-time employees have more entitlements compared to casual employees e.g. annual leave, sick leave, maternity leave etc. Your business will always need to pay salaries, even during quiet periods in your business. You will be responsible for your employee's training and professional development.
An eligible casual employee (except if they are employed by a small business employer) can make a request to convert to permanent employment from 21 days after their 12 month anniversary.
You do not have to give your casual employee notice of termination as the employment relationship ends after each shift. However, depending on the circumstances, a casual employee may be entitled to bring an unfair dismissal claim.
A casual employee
For example, if an employee is employed as casual, their roster changes each week to suit their employer's needs, and they can refuse or swap shifts, that could mean they are casual. Specifically, under the Fair Work Act, a person is a casual employee if: they are offered a job.
I'm a casual, do I get sick leave? Casual workers don't get paid sick leave, but they receive a higher rate of pay in the form of a casual loading to compensate for this. Casual workers are entitled to take unpaid sick leave.
Casual employees don't get paid time off, but can ask their employer about taking unpaid leave for holidays.
The hourly rate paid to casual employees is at least 25% more than part-time employees working in a similar position. This higher rate is called casual loading. Casual loading makes up for the extra benefits part-time employees enjoy, including paid leave and job security.
The majority of casuals use the same tax tables as part time and full time.
Casual employees receive a higher rate of pay to compensate for the fact that they do not receive all the same paid entitlements as a permanent employee, such as annual leave or personal leave.
At any time after 12 months, a casual employee may request in writing to transfer to permanent. An employer's grounds to refuse the request must be based on facts or reasonably foreseeable business reasons to not be able to transfer to permanent employment.
Maximum hours for casual employees
Several factors can determine whether or not extra work is acceptable, such as if your employer gave notice about additional work. Extra work beyond the maximum of 38 hours per week may be deemed unreasonable if: There is a risk to health and safety.
Generally, all employees are eligible for super guarantee. It doesn't matter if the employee is: full time, part time or casual.
Duties may include: Picking up and delivering mail, packages, supplies, etc. Set up and clean up for conferences, lectures and meetings. Answering telephones and keeping staff calendars updated. General office administrative tasks.
If you're a casual worker, you're not obliged to work the hours you're offered, but you also can't demand hours. Most modern employment Awards include the minimum or maximum number of hours for a casual shift.
If you are a casual employee, your shifts can be cancelled or you can be sent home early if you are not needed by your employer.
Casuals are not required to provide notice when terminating their employment under the Fair Work Act. However, if a modern Award, Enterprise Agreement or employment contract applies to you, it may provide different notice requirements.
Casuals (who aren't shiftworkers) get penalty rates when they work evenings, weekends or public holidays. Information about Casual shiftwork penalty rates is available in Casual shiftworkers & penalty rates in the Retail Award.
Casual employees do not have to give notice. However, you may consider giving notice as a matter of courtesy, especially if you will be relying on a reference from the employer.
Casual employees are entitled to certain employment rights, such as minimum wage and protection from discrimination and harassment. However, they do not receive benefits such as sick, annual, or long-service leave unless they have worked a certain amount of hours over a specified period.
Notify the casual employee as early as possible (at least 24 hours' notice if possible) by phone call or text message (request response to ensure the message has been read) of the cancellation of the shift.
So, Can a Casual Employee Claim Unfair Dismissal? In short, a casual employee may claim for unfair dismissal provided they worked on a 'regular and systemic' basis with a reasonable expectation of their employment continuing.
A regular casual employee who has worked less than equivalent full-time hours over the preceding period of 12 months' casual employment may request to have their employment converted to part-time employment consistent with the pattern of hours previously worked.