Business Needs to Get Ready for Casual Conversion 

Casual employees now have the right to notify their employer in writing that they want to convert from casual to part-time or permanent employment after 6 months (12 months for small businesses) of service.” If an employer receives a notification, they must give a written response within 21 days that accepts or rejects the notification” Craig Rossi AIG Group Industry Body

The impact of such a request is that the employer may need to defend their non-acceptance at a Fair Work hearing.

Assuming the FWO does not accept the case presented by the employer, the employee will be required to be engaged in at least a part-time position with the requisite liabilities of IR legislation, including.

What Would a Refusal Mean?

  1. Following procedural performance and dismissal processes.
  2. The provision of paid leave rights, including
    1. Sick Leave
    2. Annual leave
    3. Maximum weekly hours.
    4. Requests for flexible working arrangements.
    5. Parental leave and related entitlements.
    6. Personal/carer’s leave,
    7. Compassionate leave
    8. Family and domestic violence leave.
    9. Community service leave.
    10. Long service leave.
    11. Maternity leave
  3. Other award or business EBA conditions.

Additionally, employers will be required to:

Adhere to the NES and award conditions, including the  Beeter-off-Overall Test (BOOT)

Where the pay amount to each employee is periodically tested against what they would have received for the hours worked, compared to the award for their level.

Adhere to the NES contract conditions 

  1. Minimum and Maximum hours of work per cycle
  2. Stipulated days and times of work each day of the cycle
  3. Changes to the contract roster are only available with the documented acceptance of the employee.

It is time to plan for such a request.

Inzenius all-in-one Rostering, Timekeeping and automated Award Interpreter can make this requirement much more efficient and less $ costly.

Extract from the AIG Group – Craig Rossi – Aug 25, 2025

What is changing for casual conversion?

The new employee choice system is also based on a casual employee’s right to notify their employer in writing that they want to convert. For small businesses, an employee must have 12 months of service before they can do this (rather than the 6 months of service for larger employers).

If an employer receives a notification, they must provide a written response within 21 days, either accepting or rejecting the notification. Before responding, employers must consult with the employee.

Employees may also have other casual conversion rights under enterprise agreements, and these will continue to apply.

What is the difference?

The main difference between the new and old systems is that the grounds on which an employer can refuse conversion have changed. Refusals can only be made on limited grounds, namely that:

  1. the employee still meets the definition of a casual employee in the Fair Work Act, for example because there is no “firm advance commitment to continuing and indefinite work”; or
  2. there are “fair and reasonable operational grounds” to refuse the request, taking into account the impacts on the business and the employee’s terms and conditions of employment.

An employee who has had their request refused can lodge a dispute with the Fair Work Commission, so it is recommended to seek advice from Australian Industry Group before refusing a request from an employee.  Members of Australian Industry Group can find detailed information on the new process in our Casual conversion to full-time or part-time employment under the NES article.

Tips for dealing with an employee choice notification

Taking time early to consider how the business will deal with employee choice request can avoid surprises later on and reduce the risk of making an avoidable mistake that can lead to unexpected consequences.

Employers are a recommended to prepare by:

Examining how many employees may be eligible to make a request

 Which casual employees have been regularly working for at least 12 months?

Taking a step back and consider how the employment relationship looks from the outside

For example, are they working in the same way as other permanent workers, or are they offered work on an irregular and as needs basis?

Getting in front of the issue by asking why using casual employees is necessary or beneficial to the business

If the business does have casual employees working regular hours, why? A critical look at why a permanent employee would not be appropriate in the role will be useful when considering whether there are fair and reasonable operational grounds to refuse a potential request.

Be aware of the timeframes for responding to a request

Employers have 21 days to provide a written response to a request. This means there is no need to respond to an employee’s request on the spot. However, do not take too long, as a failure to respond at all will be a breach of the National Employment Standards.