South Australian Business News

Are your casual staff really casual?

Elisa Luck
Tuesday, March 26th 2024

The existing definition of a casual employee’ in the Fair Work Act will be replaced with a new one. This is one of the key changes under the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Act that starts on 26 August 2024.

The new definition says that an employee is a casual only if:

  • there isn’t a firm advance commitment to continuing and indefinite work, factoring in the real substance, practical reality and true nature of the employment relationship
  • the employee is entitled to be paid a casual loading or a specific pay rate for casuals.

Also, a new pathway will replace the existing rules for eligible employees to change to permanent employment if they elect to do so.

You must be across these changes. Rest assured we are going to do a deeper dive into the new definition of a casual employee and other key changes to the Fair Work Act at our webinar on 27 March 2024 — it’s not too late to join our webinar here.

Need some advice or support on how to manage this in the workplace or maybe it’s time for a review of your casual employment contracts? 

South Australian Business Chamber members can call the Business Advice Hotline at (08) 8300 0000 (select option 1).

Author

Elisa Luck

General Manager, Programs and Consulting
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