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.
Also, part-time employees usually work reasonable overtime without extra pay. However, those in jobs with hourly wages, such as shop assistants, may receive overtime pay. Casual employees always receive an hourly wage. Because of this, they receive extra pay for any hours they work outside their rostered shifts.
Casuals receive a higher rate of pay, which they may prefer than accruing leave entitlements. Casual workers do not need to apply for leave and have the ability to take extended holidays or time off work. Employers do not need to provide casual employees with notice of termination or redundancy pay.
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.
The majority of casuals use the same tax tables as part time and full time.
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.
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.
Maximum hours for casual employees
The maximum number of hours you're allowed to work per week as a casual employee is 38 hours. There can be potential to work more than 38 hours a week if the work provided by your employer is deemed reasonable.
Casual employees typically work irregular hours, which can change from week to week depending on the needs of the business or the availability of the staff. Casual employment can be very attractive to employees because of the higher hourly rates and flexibility.
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.
In the case of a casual employee, not offering the person further shifts after a prolonged period of the person providing regular and systematic work which has given rise to a reasonable expectation of ongoing work could constitute a termination of employment.
They only work for few months. Casual workers are not hired by employers on a regular basis. They do not enjoy social security benefits like provident fund, gratuity, etc. They are generally unskilled workers.
Full-Time Employees Cannot Work More Than 10 Consecutive Days. As part of the hours of work that your full-time employees work, it's important to make sure that any full-time employees don't work more than 10 days in a row, regardless of the needs of the workplace.
What is the shortest shift you can legally work? For most Australian industries, the minimum hours for shift work are 2-3 hours and are dependent on the initial employment contract. It may be the case that even if you roster an employee on for a 2 hour shift, you have to pay them for at least 3 hours of work.
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
A casual employee is generally a person who is 'engaged to work as such', for a minimum number of hours per shift (generally, it is either a minimum of 3 or 4 hours).
Casual employees don't get paid time off, but can ask their employer about taking unpaid leave for holidays.
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.
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.
The right to refuse
Some employment contracts may specify a minimum notice period for refusing a shift, such as 24 or 48 hours. While there is no legal requirement for casual employees to provide a specific amount of notice, it is generally considered good practice to give your employer as much notice as possible.
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.
According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, casual workers are entitled to overtime pay when they work more than their ordinary hours, which is typically 38 hours per week. The overtime rate for casual workers is usually higher than the standard rate of pay.