💡 Key insights
- After completing your casual employment agreement you should keep a copy of the document so you can reference your agreed terms, hours and pay rates.
- It is important to clarify your duties and schedule with your employer so both parties understand expectations and avoid misunderstandings.
- You should check whether you are covered by a relevant award or enterprise agreement because this affects minimum conditions such as pay, breaks and entitlements beyond what is in the contract.
- Setting up accurate tax and superannuation details with your employer ensures you are paid correctly and that contributions are made in accordance with legal requirements.
Completing Your employment agreement (casual)
An employment agreement is an important document which sets out the terms of work between you and your casual employee. Your agreement will cover things such as remuneration, superannuation, conduct and termination. However, after completing your employment agreement (casual) there are some other steps you can take to ensure hiring your new employee is a smooth process.
1. Implement consistent workplace policies
Employees should all be on the same page about what the business expects. Further, having workplace policies in place is a clear way of communicating what the rules in the workplace are. Some policies you may want to implement are:
- IT Policy
- WHS (Work Health & Safety) Policy
- Working From Home Policy
- Drugs and Alcohol Policy
2. Understand the difference between a casual and a long-term casual employee
Casual employees receive a higher hourly rate of pay than permanent employees. However, casual employees do not have the same paid leave entitlements as permanent employees. This includes leave such as:
- Paid sick leave
- Annual leave
However, after 12 months of employment, casual employees receive other entitlements. According to Fair Work Australia, a long-term casual employee is entitled to:
- Request flexible working arrangements
- Take parental leave
- Request a permanent contract (the employer can refuse if there is a good business case)
- Paid long service leave
Despite these entitlements, long-term casual employees do not receive redundancy pay. They also do not have to be notified of termination.
3. Know the minimum rates of pay (including casual loading)
Casual employees are entitled to receive a minimum hourly rate of pay. However, casual employees must also be paid what is called ‘casual loading’. Casual loading is an extra percentage (15-25%) paid on top of the casual’s hourly rate of pay. Further, you’ll have to also factor in paying penalty rates for employees when they work overtime, on weekends or on public holidays.
Finally
After completing your employment agreement (casual), you should be careful to:
- Continuously review employment contracts to make sure they accurately reflect your workers and also their working status
- Review your rostering practices and amend them if required
- Consider offering part or full time employment contracts to those who work regular hours and also those who have been employed for 12 months or more
- Clearly identify casual loading in monetary terms. This is so that casual loading may be able to be set off against annual leave entitlements if a claim is made
If you have further questions about hiring a casual employee for your business, we recommend that you get in touch with an employment lawyer.
