If you have been a long-term casual employee and want to be made permanent, you have the right to request conversion from casual employment to permanent employment. It is common for employees to prefer casual employment due to a 25% loading instead of entitlements like annual leave and personal leave.

An employee may convert from casual to permanent employment in two ways:

1. Employers can offer permanent employment to eligible casual employees; or
2. If an eligible casual employee wishes to be converted to a permanent position, they may request it from their employer.

An employer must offer a casual conversion to an employee within 21 days after the employee’s 12-month anniversary if the employee has worked a regular pattern of hours on an ongoing basis for the last 6 months. If an employer has reasonable grounds not to make an offer of casual conversion, the offer must be based on facts that are known, or reasonably foreseeable, at the time the employer decides not to make the offer. A casual employee does not have to accept an offer of casual conversion, but they cannot make another offer for 6 months.

A small business employer does not have to convert casual employees to permanent employment.

A casual employee may request to be converted from casual to permanent employment if they have worked a regular pattern of hours on an ongoing basis for 12 months and have not refused an offer of conversion. A request for casual conversion must be in writing, be for full-time employment or part-time employment, and be given to the employer.

If an employer decides to grant a casual employee’s request for casual conversion, they must discuss the conversion with the employee within 21 days and provide the employee with written notice.

A casual employee can dispute an employer’s decision to refuse a casual conversion request or offer. The dispute can be resolved at the workplace level or through mediation, conciliation and/or consent arbitration.