Casual Conversion – Have you advised your casual employees?

The decision of the Fair Work Commission last year to extend the conversion rights of casual employees to most Awards, has now become effective from 1 October 2018.

This change applies to 84 Modern Awards including both the Clerks-Private Sector Award 2010 and the General Retail Industry Award 2010, two common Awards used in the travel industry.

What do you need to do?

For casual employee’s already employed under these Awards, an employer must provide a copy of the new provisions by 1 January 2019. For new casual employees, it must be provided within 12 months of starting work.

AFTA have created a flyer with the relevant new provisions for each Award for you to communicate to your casual employees. Download here >

What is Casual conversion?

A person engaged by a particular employer as a regular casual employee may request that their employment be converted to full-time or part-time employment. A regular casual employee is defined as a causal employee who has in the preceding period of 12 months worked a pattern of hours on an ongoing basis which, without significant adjust, the employee could continue to perform as a full-time employee or part-time.

Do you have to Convert?

An employer may refuse a request for conversion but only where there are reasonable grounds. Reasonable grounds for refusal is described as:

1. Where it would require a significant adjustment to the casual employee’s hours of work (ie the casual employee is not truly a regular casual employee);
   
   
2. Where it is known or reasonably foreseeable that the regular casual employee’s position will cease to exist within the next 12 months;
   
   
3. Where it is known or reasonably foreseeable that the hours of work which the regular casual employee is required to perform will be significantly reduced in the next 12 months; or
   
   
4. Where it is known or reasonably foreseeable that there will be a significant change in the days and/or times at which the employee’s hours of work are required to be performed in the next 12 months which cannot be accommodated within the days and/or hours during which the employee is available to work.
   

Want to know more?

The revised Clerks Private Sector Award 2010 and most recent Pay Guides can be found on the AFTA website here.

The revised General Retail Award 2010 can be found at the link here. AFTA have also provided the relevant provisions for the two Awards which can be sent to your casual employees to ensure compliance by the deadline of 1 January 2019, download flyers here >

Need more assistance?

Contact Naomi Menon – Head of Compliance and Operations, AFTA at naomi@afta.com.au.