The National Employment Standards now include an entitlement for casual employees to become permanent in some circumstances.
From March 2021 casual staff may be entitled to become permanent if they have worked for the same employer on a continuous basis for 12 months.
By 27 September 2021, employers who have 15 staff or more need to assess whether any existing casual employees (employed before 27 March 2021), are eligible to be offered 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.
If you would like to know more about whether you need to offer permanent employment to your casual staff, assistance with correspondence, or, if you believe you may be exempt, please contact us at HRM.
