Casual employees

A casual employee usually works on an irregular basis and may or may not be offered work which in turn he or she has the option to refuse. Workplace agreements and awards often contain provision for casual employees. However, many workers are called 'casual' when in fact they are part-time or full-time employees. If an employee has regular work and there is a reasonable expectation that work will continue, then they may not be true 'casuals' and should seek further advice about their entitlements.

As a general guide, casual employees:

are not entitled to holiday pay, sick pay, or payment for public holidays not worked
should be paid an extra ‘loading’ (at least 20% more)
are entitled to workers compensation
are protected by anti-discrimination laws
may be entitled to long service leave if their employment has the requisite continuity
have the right to make an unfair dismissal claim if they have been employed on a regular basis for the legislatively prescribed period (12 months for employees covered by Commonwealth law, and 6 months for those covered by State law) and would have had a reasonable expectation of ongoing work
should receive superannuation payments if they earn $450 or more a month. However, an agreement or award may entitle casual workers to superannuation payments even if they earn below this limit.