Changes to casual employment laws

The right to offers and requests for casual conversion became a part of the National Employment Standards (NES) from 27 March 2021.  Prior to this date, the right to request casual conversion was available in some Modern Awards and Enterprise Agreements only.

By 27 September 2021 employers must have completed their assessments of any casual employees that were employed before 27 March 2021 to determine whether they are eligible for an offer of casual conversion.  Within 21 days of 27 September, the employer should have written to their employees to advise them of the outcome of that assessment.

The advice from Fair Work:

Casual employees hired before 27 March 2021:

By 27 September 2021, employers (other than small business employers) need to assess whether any of their existing casual employees employed before 27 March 2021 are eligible to be offered to convert to permanent employment.

The employer needs to:

• make a written offer to convert their casual employee to permanent employment (this must be done within 21 days after making the assessment), or
• write to their employee explaining why they won’t be making an offer (this needs to be done within 21 days of making the assessment but by no later than 27 September 2021).

More details at the Fair Work website.