On 26 February 2025, a new pathway was introduced for eligible employees to change to full-time or part-time (permanent) employment if they want to. This replaces the previous ‘casual conversion’ rules for changing to permanent employment.
Key Changes
Casual employees who have been with your business for at least 12 months and have worked regular hours will have the right to request conversion to permanent (full-time or part-time) employment. While employers can refuse these requests, they must have reasonable grounds for doing so.
Reasons can be any of the following:
- the employee still meets the definition of a casual employee
- there are fair and reasonable operational grounds for not accepting the notification, such as:
- substantial changes would be required to the way work in the employer’s business is organised
- there would be significant impacts on the operation of the employer’s business, or
- substantial changes to the employee’s employment conditions would be necessary to ensure the employer doesn’t break rules (such as in an award or agreement) that apply to the employee.
- accepting the change would mean the employer won’t comply with a recruitment or selection process required by law.
For a comprehensive breakdown of the changes and new pathway for casual employees to convert to permanent employment, click here.
Supporting you through these changes
As your association, we are here to support you through these changes. We understand the challenges that come with navigating employment law updates, especially for independent retailers managing smaller teams. Our goal is to ensure you remain compliant without overwhelming your business operations.
We will continue to keep you informed with the latest information on casual employment, including further clarifications from the Fair Work Ombudsman and Fair Work Commission. If you need assistance understanding how these changes will affect your business, or need help reviewing contracts or policies, please call our Employment Advisory team on 1800 888 479.
Additional Resources
For more detailed information, we encourage you to visit the following resources:
