Employer casual conversion obligations differ dependent upon business size, and it is important that you know what is applicable to your business, what is required of you and how to appropriately respond to employee requests. As of March 2021, it is an expectation that employers are aware of casual conversion obligations, as part of a national initiative to increase job security and staff retention.
For those of you that are classified as small businesses (any business with less than 15 employees), there is no obligation for you to offer your casual employees’ conversion from casual to permanent status. However, casual employees who have:
– Worked for your business for a period of at least 12 months;
– Worked regular patterned hours for approximately 6 of these 12 months; and
– Have not been offered or refused a conversion offer within the past 6 months.
These employees are ELIGIBLE to REQUEST casual conversion. In response, small business employers MUST respond in writing within 21 days of the employee’s request.
All other employers, with 15 or more employees, are REQUIRED to offer casuals the opportunity to convert to permanent employment. A letter of offer MUST be distributed to the employee within 21 days of their 12-month anniversary of working for your business, on the condition that they have worked a regular pattern of hours on an ongoing basis for at least 6 of these 12 months. Even if an employee initially declines an offer of casual conversion, they have the right to request it in the future, if 6 months have lapsed since the previous offer or request.
An employer can only refuse a request for casual conversion if they have discussed such with the employee and they have given reasonable grounds for the refusal, such as, a previous refusal or knowledge that the role may change in the immediate 12-month period.
If you have a casual conversion request from an employee that you simply do not know how to respond to or you require more information about ‘reasonable grounds for refusal’, then contact us at Assurance HR Management Tasmania on 1800 577 515 and we can further advise you around your specific situation. In addition, we offer services that can assist you within the casual conversion process inclusive of employee correspondence, the conversion of employment type, and the updating of associated role documents and wages.
