As part of the Fair Work Commission’s 4 yearly modern award review, the decision to insert a model casual conversion clause into over 80 of the Modern Awards became effective as of 1 October 2018.
Depending on the award, the model clause “Right to request casual conversion” can be found in the “Types of employment” clause or the “Casual Employment” clause.
The clause defines a regular casual employee as “a casual employee who has in the preceding period of 12 months worked a pattern of hours on an ongoing basis which, without significant adjustment, the employee could continue to perform as a full-time employee or part-time employee under the provisions of this award.”
If your employee is covered under an award with the model clause and fits that definition; they have the right to request that their employment be converted to full-time or part-time employment.
Once a regular casual employee has worked their equivalent full-time hours over the preceding 12 months, they can request in writing to their employer to convert to full-time. Same as if the regular casual employee has worked less than the equivalent full-time hours, they can request to convert to part time consistent with the pattern of hours previously worked over that 12 month period.
As an employer, you may agree or refuse the conversion request. If you are refusing, the employee needs to be consulted with and the refusal needs to be on reasonable business grounds. The refusal must also be in writing within 21 days of the employee making the conversion request.
The grounds for the refusal need to be reasonable and based on facts which are known or reasonably foreseeable. Some examples of reasonable grounds under the clause are:
- The casual employee is not a true “regular casual” as defined in the award.
- It is known or reasonably foreseeable that the regular casual employee’s position will cease to exist within the next 12 months.
- It is known or reasonably foreseeable that the hours of work the regular casual is required to perform will be significantly reduced in the next 12 months.
- 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.
If the conversion to full-time or part-time employee is agreed upon, it will take effect from the start of the next pay period unless otherwise agreed. The employer and employee must discuss and have in writing:
- The type of employment status the employee has converted to.
- If the employee is converting to part-time, the hours of worked fixed in accordance with the award.
A casual employee, must not be engaged and re-engaged, refused to be re-engaged or have their hours reduced or varied by their employer to avoid the conversion obligation under the award. Your regular casual employee does not need to put in the request to convert if they choose not too; you as the employer are also not able to make it a requirement for them to convert. It is all by request and agreement. If at any time your employee wants to convert back to casual, this can only be done with written agreement.
As an employer, you must provide your casual employees, regardless if they are a regular casual, a copy of the casual conversion clause within the first 12 months of their first engagement with you. If you have any casuals that are already employed with you, they need to be provided with a copy of the clause by 1 January 2019.
A number of awards, such as the Manufacturing and Associated Industries and Occupations Award 2010 and the Hospitality Industry (General) Award 2010, already had a casual conversion clause which has not been altered to be in line with the new model clause.
If you want assistance checking if your award previously had different casual conversion conditions or the new model clause is binding on your employees, please give us a call on 1300 760 050 or email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Written by Laura Quinlan, HR Consultant.