Change to casual employee definition

The definition of casual employee changed on 26 August 2024. For employees who started from 26 August 2024, the new casual employee definition applies.

Find more information on the new definition on the Casual employee page.

A casual employee engaged and working as a casual employee immediately before 26 August 2024 continues as casual under the new rules, unless they move to permanent employment.

For these employees the previous casual employee definition still applies to periods of casual employment occurring before 26 August 2024.

The new casual employee definition applied to their employment from 26 August 2024.

Whether an employee is correctly engaged as a casual employee will depend on which casual employment definition applied at the commencement of their employment.

Previous casual employee definition

Before 26 August 2024, a person was a casual employee if:

• they were offered a job
• the offer didn’t include a firm advance commitment that the work would continue indefinitely with an agreed pattern of work
• they accepted the offer knowing that there was no firm advance commitment when they became an employee.

For example, if an employee was employed as casual, their roster changed each week to suit their employer’s needs, and they could refuse or swap shifts, that could mean they were casual.

No firm advance commitment

There were only 4 factors that determined whether an employer’s offer didn’t include a firm advance commitment. They were:

• whether the employer could choose to offer the employee work and it would be the employee’s choice to work or not
• whether the employee would be offered work when the business needed them to work
• if the employment was described as casual
• if the employee would be paid a casual loading (a higher pay rate for being a casual employee), or a specific pay rate for casual employees.

The casual definition changed as part of the Closing Loopholes reforms. To read more about casual employment and other changes, go to Closing Loopholes.