There has been a recent amendment to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Act) which changes the workplace entitlements and obligations for casual employees.

Employers should familiarise themselves with these changes to ensure they follow all policies set out in the Act when employing a casual employee and understand how these changes may affect their business.

The Act has been amended to include a:

• Casual Employment Information Statement
• definition of casual employment
• pathway for casual employees to become a full time or part time (permanent) employee.

Casual Employment Information Statement

Employers are now required to provide every new casual employee a Casual Employment Information Statement (CEIS) before, or as soon as possible after, they start their new job.

Employers are required to provide their existing casual employees with a copy of the CEIS as soon as possible after 27 September 2021.

Click here to download the Casual Employment Information Statement.

Definition of a casual employee

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.

An employee will be considered to be a casual employee until:

• they become a permanent employee, or
• they stop being employed by the employer.

Becoming a permanent employee

The National Employment Standards now include an entitlement for casual employees to become full-time or part-time (permanent) in some circumstances. This is also known as ‘casual conversion’.

Casual employees can become permanent by their employer offering casual conversion or by making a request for casual conversion to their employer. For this to occur, there are eligibility requirements that apply and processes that must be follow.

For more information on casual conversion, click here.

If you have any questions regarding casual employment or how the changes to The Act may affect your business, please give us a call on 03 5443 0344 or email afs@afsbendigo.com.au