What Employers Need to Know About Casual Employment and Conversion Changes

Australia’s Fair Work Act has introduced significant changes to casual employment, impacting how casual employees are defined and treated under the law effective 26 August 2024. The key changes focus on the definition of a casual employee, the right to convert to permanent employment, and the introduction requirements to provide a “Casual Employment Information Statement” (CEIS) at various anniversaries of employment.

Key Points of the Casual Conversion Changes:

• Definition of Casual Employment: The new definition clarifies that an employee is casual if they accept a job offer knowing there is no firm advance commitment to ongoing work with an agreed pattern of work and the employee is entitled to a casual loading or specific casual pay rate.

• Right to Request to Casual Conversion to Permanent Employment: in accordance with the National Employment Standards of Australia, Casual employees, now have the right to request a conversion to full-time or part-time employment after 6 months of service (12 months for small businesses), provided they meet certain criteria. Employers have 21 days to respond to an employee requesting to convert from Casual to Permanent employment. An employer can accept or decline the request subject to specific criteria defined by the Fair Work Act.

• Casual Employment Information Statement (CEIS): Employers are required to provide all casual employees with a CEIS, which outlines their rights and entitlements. This must be done when they start the job or as soon as possible thereafter, after 6 months and 12 months of employment and every 12 months thereafter for non-small business and after 12 months for small businesses.

• Sham Employment Arrangements – Protections Increased: The changes include stricter protections against sham employment arrangements, which some employers use to avoid paying entitlements. It is now illegal for employers to falsely convince employees to switch to casual contracts for the same or similar work or to dismiss employees to rehire them as casuals. Courts can impose penalties of up to $93,900 for individuals and $469,500 for businesses involved in such arrangements.

If you are a business owner or operator and need help to navigate Casual Conversion changes, how they may affect your operations and how to navigate them with your workforce, the WCA Solutions, Outsourced HR and Commercial Team can help. Contact WCA Solutions on (08) 9383 3293 today!