On 18 March 2021, the Senate passed a 'stripped down'
version of the Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia's
Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2021, otherwise referred to
as the 'IR Omnibus Bill'. The Government dropped all other
Schedules from the IR Omnibus Bill, with only Schedule 1 remaining,
which addresses changes to casual employment.
These changes will have a significant impact on the legal status
of casual employees in the national system.
Changes to Casual Employment
The IR Omnibus Bill made four key amendments to the Fair
Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the FW Act):
- The inclusion of a definition for a 'casual
employee'.
- In circumstances where an employee has been incorrectly
classified as a casual, rather than as a full-time or part-time
employee, employers will be able to offset any entitlements
retrospectively claimed by the employee against the 25% casual
loading that they have already paid to the employee.
