Do you employ casual staff or plan to hire someone soon to fill a gap in your business? If so, then you need to be aware of the traps of bending the rules for employing casuals. Let’s look at an example. 
You hire an administrative assistant called Rachel. You only need Rachel for a few hours each week, to take up the slack and perform some of your day-to-day tasks. Business starts booming and you need Rachel to come into work more often. She starts working regular hours so she can get all the work done. Weeks fly by and Rachel is now coming from 10 am -2 pm every day and her hours have not changed for a few months. You expect Rachel to work these hours and Rachel does too, so much so that you don’t even discuss shift times anymore. It could now be argued that Rachel your “casual” assistant is working on a part-time basis. Take a moment to consider what might occur if you have a falling out with Rachel and decide to terminate her employment without notice. You can do that because she’s a casual employee. Or is she? Rachel could claim that due to her regular, predictable hours, that she is a part-time employee who should be afforded all the rights and protections of a part-time employee including correct dismissal protocol. Rachel might even be so disgruntled that she decides to take you to the Fair Work Tribunal for Unfair Dismissal. What would you do? And how would you prove that Rachel’s position was casual? The general understanding around casual employment is that it covers employees who are not guaranteed regular employment and work unpredictable hours. However, there are awards that allow for employees to work a regular roster. Casuals are usually paid at a higher hourly rate to cover the fact that they do not get sick or annual leave. This type of position can be terminated without notice unless otherwise stipulated in a registered agreement, award or employment contract. So getting back to the situation with Rachel – what could you have done as an employer to make sure that there was no possibility of being dragged before the Fair Work Tribunal?
You could take these three steps
- Check the Award under which your prospective staff member will be employed. What does it say about the terms of casual employment? If it’s not clear, ring the ombudsman or an industry body to clarify the rules.
- Be up front about the terms of their employment during the hiring process. Give them an employment contract which explains your arrangement when they start and keep an ongoing paper trail.
- Review the situation from time to time. If your award is clear about non regular hours then you need to ensure that you stick to the terms of the working arrangement so that the situation cannot be misconstrued. If the working hours evolve and start to become more predictable and regular, then you should review the employment conditions and make a decision about whether you need to put them on a part-time contract.
By taking these 3 steps you can be confident that you are sticking by employment legislation and reducing your risk of having to deal with unhappy employees or the Fair Work Tribunal.
