Legal Analysis: Casual vs. Permanent Employment in Australian HRM

This report delves into the complexities of casual versus permanent employment in Australia, examining how the law complicates pay and leave obligations for employers. It explores the increasing trend of casual workers and the factors driving this shift, such as flexible working hours and higher wages. The report outlines the legal rights and limitations of casual workers under the Fair Work Act, including unpaid leave, minimum wage, and unfair dismissal rights. It highlights the complications arising from the differences in rights and benefits between casual and permanent employees, particularly concerning payroll and leave applications. The analysis references relevant legislation, including the Fair Work Act, and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of both employment types. The report concludes by emphasizing the need to maintain a clear distinction between the two working groups while ensuring fairness and motivation for all employees, and it provides a comprehensive overview of the legal and practical implications of managing casual and permanent workforces within the Australian context.

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Topic 1: Casual employment is a popular form of employment, attracting a higher rate of pay
but normally not attracting any paid leave. Discuss how the law determining differences
between casual and permanent employment might complicate pay and leave obligations for
Australian employers. Refer to recent case decisions and any developments in the area.

Introduction
Australia has been witnessing an increase in the rate of casual workers which has been the
consequence of the increased work pressure and demand of the workers in the Australian
market. It has been noted that about more than two million Australians are employed as the
casual workers. The causal worker is the one who is employed for certain specific work and
the flow of the work is not promised for the future. The rate of payment to the casual workers
is high related to the permanent workers for the same designation (Hor & MacDermott,
2019). The temporary employment of workers could be called as the casual workers where
the ongoing flow of work is not specific. The benefits which the casual workers enjoy are
limited as compared to the permanent ones. The causal workers are not entitled to the holiday
leaves or the sick leaves under any condition which gets compensated through the high wage
rate being paid to them than the permanent employees who enjoy the paid holidays and sick
leaves. The differences in the rights and the laws of Australia concerning the employment
law and rights reflects some contradictory situations which brings in complications and issues
in the pay roll and the leave applications. (Markey & McIvor, 2018). The differences could
be discussed as below.
Figure 1: Casual Workers in Australia
(Source: Casual workers, 2019)
The causal workers trend has been on an increasing trend in Australia and the reason for it is
the high rate of wages being paid to the workers. The high wage rate brings in the scenario of
fulfilling the needs of the people at a smaller period of time with no boundation of working

for a longer period of time or any restrictions levied upon. The workers has been gaining the
approach of delivering the output required by their employers by within the specified time in
the agreement which provides them with the feasibility of spending some time with their
family and friends too. The permanent employees are bound to work all the days of the week
and the restriction on the number of leaves and pay rolls all creates a hurdle in the mind of
the people (Sappideen et al. 2016). Considering the females of the country who need to look
after both the family and their career, they get an opportunity to work around in flexible
working hours which adds on to their feasibility. This has been the reason for the higher
number of female casual workers then the males. The males are also on the high list as the
take up the casual work as their part time ones and thus, this helps them in gaining or earning
more than their regular salaries. Thus, the perks and the feasibility of flexibility has been the
main reason for the popularity of the casual working pattern in Australia.
It could also be stated that the Australian government has provided number of laws and rights
to the casual workers which has added on to the attractiveness of the working trend. The Fair
Act Law of Australia states number of facts about the rights that the casual workers could
enjoy with some of the limitations to the rights (Correa et al. 2015). The permanent workers
are also on the list but on comparing the two sides of the two working conditions, the people
are being attracted to the casual ones.
Australian Government has been one of the governments which has provided its people with
some of the benefits and rights to its causal workers. Though the casual workers enjoy higher
pay than the permanent workers on an hourly basis for the same work, there exist some more
rights and the advantages too (De, 2016). Being a causal worker also limits the benefits that
the permanent employees enjoy to the casual employees The limitation though is to the paid
leaves and sick leaves, the casual workers in Australia could receive a payment of about
$18.93/hour which compensates for the benefits that the permanent employees enjoys. The
Australian Government provides the casual workers with the benefits or the rights as per the
Fair Work Act, such as
 Two days’ of unpaid carer’s leave for every single occasion
 Two days of unpaid compassionate leave for every occasion
 The national minimum wage which is currently $18.93 for the causal workers along
with the 25% causal loading that is the additional wages which balances the unpaid

leaves as that of other permanent worker perks which are not provided to the causal
workers.
 The unfair dismissal right is applicable to the causal worker too as that of the
permanent employee. If the employee has worked as a casual worker for more than
six months on a continuous basis, and wishes to serve more the unfair dismissal right
could be utilised by him. The difference between the permanent and casual worker do
not exist in this right.
 The casual worker carries a right to work for maximum of 38 hours of work per week
along with additional hours.
 If the casual worker down shifts his working hours than the employer has the right to
obstruct the flow of the work.
 Casual worker carries a right to work in a safe and hygienic workplace.
 Note that there are no official minimum hours for casual employees per shift, but you
should check your agreement on this before starting work as many employers stick to
a minimum of two or three hours per shift for casual staff.
On working for more than 12 months as a casual worker, the worker gains some additional
rights under the fair Work Act, which is a 12 month of unpaid parental leave and other is
demand for flexible working arrangements (Forsyth, 2018).
The difference in the laws and rights of the permanent and the casual workers has brought in
complications which gave birth to the need of acknowledging the issues of payrolls and leave
applications. These issues has been acknowledged by the Australian government accurately
and framed the justified laws and rights. (Casual workers, 2019). The number of bodies or the
concerned laws for the workers both the causals and the permanents could be assessed
through exploring the Fair Work Act, Australian Council of Trade Unions, The Australian
Workers Union, Business Victoria, Casual Workers, NSW Rights Government – Employee
Rights, Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland – Casual Employment, South
Australia Government – Rights at Work, Northern Territory Government – Your Rights at
Work, Government of Western Australia- Employee Rights.
The casual workers also carries an advantage of long term casual employees under the Fair
Work Act. The Fair Work Act states that the long term casual employees are casual
employees until the employment relationship transforms or brings on change with their
employers which leads to the mutual commitment where the flow of work gets confirmed for

the future or a pattern gets decided or agreed upon (Campbell et al. 2019). The causal
workers carry a right to appeal to its employers for permanent employment if they have
worked for more than 12 months as a casual worker and thus take up the parental leaves. The
permanent workers are the ones who carry some extra ordinary benefits which are taken for
granted by the employees. The permanent employees carry a fixed hour of working each
week which helps them in segregating or allocating their tasks or plan for their other works in
advance (Charlesworth & Macdonald, 2015). This facility is not enjoyed by the casual
worker as his working hour is not fixed and the flexibility would result out in favour of the
employer who could ask the worker anytime to work for him. This restricts the worker from
future planning and thus, he has to be dependent on his employer.
The casual workers has been increasing in Australia and the mess that is being created
concerning the leaves and pay rolls of between the permanent and the casual workers could
also be checked through the need or the reason for the increasing casual workers. The
unemployment rate of Australia has seen some darker side in the past few years which has led
to the emergence of the casual working conditions and thus, the attraction toward the casual
working has been natural. The people of Australia has taken up the opportunity of earning
from any means and the permanent jobs has been confined to the high designations and posts
(McGann et al. 2016). The high designated jobs and the posts are the ones which serve as the
permanent ones and the daily workers or the cafeterias and other technical jobs has also been
gaining the causal workers. This could be because of the increasing population of Australia
too which has brought in number of young workers in the scenario and in order to gain
through any means, the youngsters has been attracted to the casual working conditions. The
permanent jobs require some high qualifications and high education while the casual working
could be done initially through the basic knowledge gathered in college and other universities
(Mooi et al. 2017). The Employment Law of Australia has brought in number of distinctions
between the two concerned workers and the rights and benefits that the two could enjoy are
also different. The permanent workers are the ones who enjoys number of perks and rewards
as per their performance and work but the causal workers are just paid the hiked up wages no
matter how excellent and quality work they deliver (Markey & McIvor, 2018). This restricts
the casual workers form being encouraged or motivated to their work. This also leads to the
downfall in the interest or the commitment towards their work. The permanent workers are
the ones who enjoys all the national and international holidays while the causal workers has
to work all days as per the demand of their employers which makes their activity boring and

unattractive (Wright & Clibborn, 2017). The promotions and the advanced or higher
authorities could not be achieved by the causal workers and no growth is available in the
casual workers life, which is immensely present in the permanent workers life (Gilfillan,
2018). These distinctions has brought in the differences in the pay roll and the leave
applications in Australia which needs to be maintained in order to keep the public motivated
and attracted to the permanent working.
Conclusion
The Employment Law brings on the distinction between the permanent workers law and the
casual workers laws which plays an important role in determining the benefits to which the
employee is entitled. In order to gain the benefits of the Employment law, the casual workers,
are required to serve “continuous casuals” according to Fair Work Act. There are some more
conditions and the situation which has been described under various workers acts of Australia
where the difference between the two could be dissolved (Wright et al. 2016). The
dissolution of the difference would lead to the transfer of the public completely towards the
casual working scenario which would have a negative impact on the productivity of the
country on a long term. The casual workers do not get the holidays and the supportive
working conditions are unavailable which could bring in a frustrating behaviour in the
workers and thus the productivity of the workers would fall. Thus, it is necessary and very
important to maintain a distinction between the two working groups and always balance
between the two (Clibborn & Wright, 2018). Thus, both the working class needs to be
provided with some perks and some limitations so that the identity of both the workers is
maintained.

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