In the ongoing saga of casual versus permanent employment, and
whatever may exist in between, the Fair Work Commission just added
another chapter by recently deciding that modern awards should
contain a mechanism for casual employees to elect to convert to
full-time or part-time employment.
As part of its four-yearly modern award review, the FWC agreed
there was a need for a 'conversion' mechanism for
particular casual employees on the basis that, by remaining casual,
the employees miss out on part-time or full-time benefits such as
personal and annual leave.
The FWC's decision referred to data showing 29% of casual
employees work full-time hours and 60% of those employees had been
working regular shifts for 6 months or more. That data indicates
there's a large number of not so 'casual' casual
employees out there.
