Are you aware of the changes to casual staff laws? Don’t get caught out!
O*NO! Did you know the laws relating to casuals have changed?! Do you know what you need to do so you don’t get caught out? Here’s the low-down:
As of 27 March 2021 some changes have been legislated to do with casual employment (that may affect your business). Fortunately, there is a 6-month grace period for employers to familiarise themselves with the amendments and make sure their business complies with the new laws. This grace period ends on 27 September 2021 – quick tip: calendarise this date so you don’t get caught out!
Paperwork you need to provide to your causal employees
The first change to make note of is there is now a new Casual Employment Information Statement (CEIS) produced by the Fair Work Ombudsman that employers must provide to all new and current casual employees. Along with the new CEIS, employers must provide an amended Fair Work Information Statement (FWIS) to all new employees (not just casual employees).
The required timeframes for employers to give these statements to employees are:
New casual employees:
All new casual employees are to be given a copy of the CEIS before, or as soon as possible after, they start their new job.
Existing casual employees:
Small Business Employers (less than 15 employees) must give existing casual employees a copy of the CEIS as soon as possible;
All other employers are to give existing casual employees a copy of the CEIS as soon as possible after 27 September 2021 (but we recommend you do this sooner rather than later otherwise you may forget!).
The CEIS can, and should, be provided to the respective employees at the same time as the updated FWIS and can be given to the employees in hard copy or soft copy or providing a copy of the link to the statement on the Fair Work Ombudsman’s website. If you’re thinking about sending a link to the statement on the Fair Work Ombudsman’s website, please be aware your employee must agree to this first; to streamline your process you may wish to simply email the statement as an attachment to safeguard against the employee not providing their consent.
The updated FWIS has two major changes:
A reference to the need for casual employees to also be provided with the CEIS on commencement; and
Casual conversion in the NES summary.
Employers will need to ensure that the updated FWIS is provided to all new employees before, or as soon as possible after, they start their new job.
Casual conversion
Ok, this part is a little technical so we apologise for the legalese, but the other changes to make note of are:
A casual employee will remain a casual employee unless converted to permanent employment under the new casual conversion provisions;
What are the new casual conversion provisions?
Employers must consider whether to offer casual employees permanent part-time or full-time employment after they have been employed for 12 months, and within 21 days need to either:
Make a written offer of conversion to the casual employee; or
Advise the employee in writing that the employer will not be making an offer of conversion and tell them why.
An employer can decide not to offer conversion if:
During at least the last 6 months the employee has not worked a regular pattern of hours on an ongoing basis which, without significant adjustment, the employee could continue to work as a full-time or part-time employee; or
There are reasonable grounds for not making an offer of conversion.
The employer gets the first chance to offer, not offer or refuse conversion to the employee. If the employer does not do so within 21 days of the employee reaching 12 months of service, the employee has a residual right to request conversion.
There are further conversion changes that can be found on the Fair Work Ombudsman website.
If any of the above is relevant to you/your business, you may wish to:
Perform an assessment of your casual employees to ensure they meet the definition of a “casual employee”.
1. Casual employees are defined by the Fair Work Act 2009 as someone who:
Has been made an offer of employment (by the employer) on the basis that the employer makes no firm advance commitment to continuing and indefinite work according to an agreed pattern of work for the person; and
the person accepts the offer on that basis; and
the person is an employee as a result of that acceptance.
Casuals who were employed before 27 March 2021 and whose initial employment offer meets the above definition continue to be casual employees. Also note that there are some further conditions surrounding the above, see the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s15A.
2. Consider making your casual employee(s) an offer of conversion if:
An offer was made with a firm advance commitment to continuing and indefinite work according to an agreed pattern of work for the employee;
The employee has worked for you for 12 months;
Has worked a regular pattern of hours for at least the last 6 of those months on an ongoing basis; and
Is intended to continue working those hours as a permanent employee without significant changes.
Note some exceptions apply, including:
Small business employers (less than 15 employees); and
Employers who have ‘reasonable grounds’ not to make an offer to a casual employee for casual conversion, such as that the employee’s position won’t exist within 12 months of deciding not to make the offer, the hours worked will be significantly reduced within this time and/or the days/times worked will have significant change within this time.
For further, detailed information on this please visit the Fair Work Ombudsman Website or contact us at O*NO Legal for any assistance you may need to ensure you remain compliant with employment legislation
Boring legal stuff: This article is general information only and cannot be regarded as legal, financial or accounting advice as it does not take into account your personal circumstances. For tailored advice, please contact us. PS - congratulations if you have read this far, you must love legal disclaimers or are a sucker for punishment.