If you are in business, hiring casual staff
can provide increased flexibility in your
workplace. However, it might not always be
possible to treat casual employees as “casual”.
When is casual employee really a casual employee?
I’m John Gallagher from Argon Law and in
this video I will be talking about how a recent
Full Federal Court decision might affect you
and what you should be aware of before engaging
casual staff.
Generally speaking, the term ‘casual’
employee has been interpreted to mean an employee
who works only on demand by the employer and
on a shift-by-shift basis. A casual employee
has no guaranteed hours of work; usually works
irregular hours; doesn’t get paid sick or
annual leave and can, in most cases, end the
employment without notice.
So when is this not the case? The recent decision
of WorkPac Pty Ltd v Skene provides a good
example. In that case, the Federal Court found
that a fly-in fly-out worker engaged as a
casual through a labour hire company, was
not in fact a casual employee and was therefore
entitled to annual leave. In making its decision,
the Court looked to things like the predictability
of shifts, the continuous nature of his engagement
and the length of employment. It also imposed
penalties on the employer.
Employing and paying an employee as a casual
employee does not, in itself, mean the employee
is actually a casual employee. You need to
look at multiple factors before deciding that
they should be classified as casual. The case
is likely to have much broader implications
for all employers who engage casuals.
Adding to the increased uncertainty around
casual employees, from 1 October 2018, employers
must also ensure compliance with the new casual
conversion clause which has been inserted
into more than 80 modern employment awards.
That clause allows some casual employees to
give notice to their employer that they are
converting to permanent.
If you would like more information about casual
employees or what is required to comply with
the new casual conversion clause, please give
us a call. And if you found this video of
interest the please subscribe to our video
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