Casual workers have won the right to demand a permanent full-time or part-time job after 12 months under a landmark Fair Work Commission ruling.

But employers will still have the right to refuse the request if the change would substantially alter the worker’s hours to accommodate them as a permanent staff member; it is known or reasonably foreseeable that the casual employee’s position will cease to exist; or the employee’s hours of work will significantly change or be reduced within the next 12 months; or on other reasonable grounds based on facts which are known or reasonably foreseeable.

The Fair Work Commission said it was necessary for modern awards to contain a provision allowing casual employees to ask for conversion to permanent full-time or part-time work after 12 months.

The decision will apply to 80+ modern awards that do not contain such a provision.

“If the casual employment turns out to be long-term in nature, and to be of sufficient regularity … then we consider it to be fair and necessary for the employee to have access to a mechanism by which the casual employment may be converted to an appropriate form of permanent employment,” the full bench found.

The decision will allow a casual worker to convert to part-time or full-time employment if:

• a qualifying period of 12 calendar months is met;
• the casual employee must have worked a pattern of hours on an ongoing basis over the 12 month period which could continue to be worked on a full-time or part-time basis without significant adjustment
• the employer must provide all casual employees with a copy of the casual conversion clause within the first 12 months after their initial engagement.

If you have any questions, or would like more information on this or any other HR issue, please contact us.