By 27 September 2021, employers (other than small business employers with fewer than 15 employees) need to assess whether any existing casual employees (employed before 27 March 2021), should be offered the opportunity to convert to permanent employment.
Employers need to:
- make a written offer to convert their casual employees to permanent employment (this must be done within 21 days after making the assessment), or
- write to employees explaining why they won’t be made an offer (this needs to be done within 21 days of making the assessment but by no later than 27 September 2021).
To accept an offer to convert, employees need to respond in writing within 21 days after getting the offer. If they don’t respond, employers can assume that they’ve declined the offer.
Small business employers (defined as a business with fewer than 15 employees) do not have to offer casual conversion to casual employees.
However, casuals may make a request to their small business employer if they meet the below requirements:
- they have been employed for at least twelve months,
- they have worked a regular pattern of hours in the last six months on an ongoing basis,
- their regular hours could continue as a permanent employee without significant changes,
- they haven’t refused an offer to become a permanent employee in the last six months,
- the employer has not informed the employee that they won’t be offering casual conversion on reasonable grounds, and
- the employer has not already refused a request based on reasonable grounds in the last six months.
Click here to download and read the full Casual Employment Information Statement. This document must also now be given to all new casual employees.
You can find further information about these changes at the Fair Work website, especially this page about becoming a permanent employee.