Casual Employment

If you are a casual employee your employer only pays you for the number of hours that you work. You are generally not entitled to paid sick leave or paid annual leave.

To compensate casual employees for not having paid sick or paid annual leave the hourly rate is generally higher than the hourly rate of a part-time or full-time employee. This is called a casual loading.

Also, if you work evenings, on weekends or on public holidays you may be entitled to a higher hourly rate of pay as per your Award.

You can have regular or irregular hours, for example during school terms or university semesters you can work less hours than during the holidays. Generally, as a casual employee you do not have job security though – if your employer isn’t busy, they do not have to give you work.

Some Awards do allow you to ask your employer to convert your casual position to permanent if you have worked regular hours for 6 or 12 months. You should check your Award to see if you are eligible to request this.