The insecurity of casual work

BEING a casual employee often isn't a choice for the vast majority of casuals – it’s the only option the employer offered.

Casuals generally lack job security, don’t get regular hours and can be let go for any old reason. In some industries more than 70% of workers at a workplace can be casual and in Tasmania stats suggest 1 in 3 workers are either casual or on fixed term contracts with less than 12 months of guaranteed work. If you're a casual you get paid extra, normally 25%, as compensation for having an insecure and irregular job. But this also has to make up for the annual leave and sick leave entitlements that permanent workers get. In other words, you must fund your own holidays and sick leave, which can be extra hard for the many who are actually under-employed. The federal government recently changed the National Employment Standards to include the right to ask for 'casual conversion', the process of requesting or being offered permanent work. Casual conversion processes may have been in an agreement or award, but now it's a federal law that applies to all private sector employees regardless of the industry you work in (but not applicable to state servants). Once you've worked for more than 12 months in a private business with more than 15 employees you have the right to ask to convert from casual to permanent parttime or permanent full-time work. The 3 basic criteria are that you worked for the employer for 12 months or more, worked a regular pattern of hours on an ongoing basis for at least 6 months, and could continue to work these hours as a permanent part time or full time employee without significant changes. A 'regular pattern' doesn’t always mean working the exact same hours week in week out. Employers must assess you every 12 months and when they identify that you've satisfied the 3 criteria they must make you an offer of permanent employment. This doesn’t oblige you to accept the offer, but it should be made, and doesn’t require any selection process. You can make a request for conversion every 12 months and the employer must respond in writing to your request within 21 days, accepting or rejecting it. Any rejection must be in writing and must state reasons. If your employer doesn't make an offer or refuses to accept your request to convert to permanent employment on ‘reasonable grounds’ those grounds must be based on facts that are known or reasonably foreseeable. Reasonable grounds for deciding not to make an offer can include that in the next 12 months your position won’t exist, your hours of work will significantly reduce or your days or times of work will significantly change and can’t be accommodated within your available days or times for work. Reasonable grounds can also include that making the offer would not comply with a recruitment or selection process required under a commonwealth, state or territory law or that your employer would have to make a significant adjustment to your work hours for you to be employed fulltime or part-time. Contact us if you want to chat about your situation as a casual.