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Workplace July 2017
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Casual Conversion to FT
In a NutshellOn 5 July 2017 a full bench of the Fair Work Commission (FWC) as part of the extensive four-yearly review of modernawards made significant changes to the rights of casual employees across eighty-five Modern Awards by ruling that a
casual conversion clause should be introduced to these Modern Awards. This therefore gives longer term casualemployees, rights to seek either full-time or part-time employment.
There are to be further submissions to the FWC in August 2017 concerning the wording of the clause but once resolvedand orders finalised all Modern Awards will contain some form of casual conversion clause.
The Decision
The FWC recommended changes to minimumengagement periods for casual workers in limitedcircumstances (such as in the Wine Industry Award insituations where weather conditions precluded work frombeing performed), and recommended allowing greaterflexibility for rostering part-time work in the hospitalityindustry.
It was also foreshadowed that further review of the Social,Community, Home Care, and Disability Services IndustryAward and the Aged Care Award may be required afterthe National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) hasbeen fully implemented, should the scheme be a catalystfor change in those industries affected by it. It was held tobe too early to gauge any changes in industry at this pointin time.
However, the finding with the largest impact across theworkforce is the ruling that Modern Awards should enablecasual employees to elect to convert to full-time or part-time employment, subject to certain restrictions andqualifications.
The qualifications identified were that:
• The employee must have completed at least 12calendar months’ work with the employer;
• The employee must have worked a pattern of hourson an ongoing basis which could continue to be
performed in accordance with full-time or part-timeemployment without significant adjustment;
• The employer must provide all casual employeeswith a copy of the casual conversion clause afterthey have been employed for a period of 12months; and
• A conversion may be refused by the employer oncertain grounds.
The grounds upon which an employer could refuse aconversion were stated to be as follows:
• A conversion would require a significant adjustmentto the casual employee’s hours of work toaccommodate them in full-time or part-timeemployment in accordance with the award terms;or
• It is known or reasonably foreseeable that thecasual employee’s position will cease to exist; or
• The employee’s hours of work will significantlychange or be reduced within the next 12 months; or
• There are other reasonable grounds based on factswhich are known or reasonably foreseeable.
These changes apply to the 85 Modern Awards that do notcurrently have a casual conversion clause. They do notaffect Modern Awards where a casual conversion clausealready exists.
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What to Do
In the light of this directive, employers should take thefollowing steps in relation to considering the terms ofemployment of casual staff:
1. Determine whether the Modern Award or Awardsapplicable to staff now are subject to a casualconversion clause.
2. Undertake an audit of casual staff to determine howmany, if any, would qualify for casual conversiononce the clause is introduced.
3. Be aware of the requirement in due course toprovide those casual employees who have beenemployed for a period greater than 12 months witha copy of the casual conversion clause from therelevant Modern Award.
Contact details
If you have any queries regarding this alert, please contact:
Guy Biddle [email protected]+61 8 8235 7851
Will Snow Special [email protected]+61 8 8235 7692
Aleks Golat [email protected]+61 8 8235 7680
