As a result, employers have new obligations with respect to their existing casual employees and any new casual employees they employ after 27 March 2021.
Casual Fair Work Information Statement
The Fair Work Ombudsman has now published a Casual Employment Information Statement (Statement). Like the Fair Work Information Statement that must be provided to permanent full-time and part-time employees, employers must provide all new casual employees with the Statement before, or as soon as possible after, they commence employment.
Practically, the easiest way to ensure compliance with this obligation is to provide the Statement together with the casual contract of employment prior to the employee starting work.
Importantly, employers who are small business employers* must provide all current casual employees with the Statement as soon as possible after 27 March 2021.
Employers who are not small business employers must provide all current casual employees with the Statement as soon as possible after 27 September 2021.
You can access a copy of the Statement on the Fair Work Ombudsman website here.
Offers of permanent employment
Employers (other than small business employers) must make offers to convert to permanent (full-time or part-time) employment to their casual employees who have worked for them for at least 12 months, and where during at least the last 6 months of that period, the employee has worked a regular pattern of hours on an ongoing basis which, without significant adjustment, the employee could continue to work as a permanent employee.
This obligation picks up the language of the modern award provisions providing employees with a right to request casual conversion, but imposes an obligation to proactively offer permanent employment to eligible employees, unless there are “reasonable grounds” not to do so.
If you would like to know more about the new provisions dealing with casual employees, or you would like assistance in relation to your current casual employees, please contact our Employment and Workplace Relations team on (08) 9321 0522.
*Small business employers are national system employers with fewer than 15 employees at the relevant time.
