Sweeping changes have been made regarding the entitlements of casual employees.
These changes bring about significant changes for businesses in relation to their casual employees.
What are the changes?
The Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia’s Jobs and Economic Recovery) Act 2021 (Cth) has brought about a number of changes including:
- specifying the definition of what a casual employee is;
- the rights of casual employees; and
- the obligation of employers with their casual employees.
The definition of a casual employee has now been codified as an individual whom is engaged to work on the basis that there is no firm advance commitment to continuing and indefinite work or to an agreed pattern of work for the individual.
Further, casual employees now have the right after working for a period of 1 year with an employer to request that their employment be converted to either part-time or full-time employment, provided they meet criteria such as the following:
- they have been employed for a period of at least 12 months;
- for the last 6 months of that employment, they have worked a regular pattern of hours on an ongoing basis; and
- there has been no significant adjustment to the employee’s pattern of work.
What does this mean for businesses?
Employers who have eligible casual employees must within 21 days of the casual’s 12 month employment anniversary notify an eligible employee of their entitlement to convert their employment.
Businesses have until 27 September 2021 to adjust to the new changes and make offers to eligible casual employees.
Should businesses fail to comply with the new changes, there may be penalties for non-compliance.
How can Marsdens help?
The new changes represent a significant shift in employer obligations and casual employee rights. It is important that employers get casual conversion right to avoid breaching their obligations under the legislation.
If you are an employer seeking advice regarding how the new changes impact your business or are unsure how to issue the relevant notices for conversion, please contact Aaran Johnson or Simon Kumar (contact details below) to discuss how Marsdens can assist.
The contents of this publication are for reference purposes only. This publication does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as legal advice. Specific legal advice should always be sought separately before taking any action based on this publication.
