Should I Hire My Staff on a Part-Time or Casual Basis?

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Table of Contents

• Part-Time Employees
• Casual Employees
• Difference Between Employment Types
• Other Factors
• Best Practice
• Casual Conversion
• Key Takeaways
• Frequently Asked Questions

The decision to employ staff as part-time or casual depends on several factors. A permanent part-time employee has ongoing employment and works, on average, less than 38 hours per week. Whereas a casual employee has no advance commitment to regular work. Before you decide to hire staff as part-time or casual, this article will explore the difference between the two employment types and whether you should hire your team part-time or casual.

Part-Time Employees

A permanent part-time employee has ongoing employment. A part-time employee usually works regular hours each week (subject to any modern award or enterprise agreement) and is entitled to the same benefits as a full-time employee on a pro-rata basis. Benefits that part-time employees receive include:

• annual leave;
• paid personal and carer’s leave;
• notice of termination; and
• redundancy pay (if applicable).

You typically pay part-time employees at an ordinary hourly rate.

Casual Employees

On the other hand, a casual employee is a person who makes no advance commitment to regular work. Instead, casual employees accept your offers to work on an ongoing basis. 

In determining whether an offer of employment makes no firm advance commitment to regular work, you must consider whether:

• you can elect to offer the employee work and the employee can accept or reject the offer;
• the employee will work as required according to your needs;
• you describe the employment as casual employment; and
• the employee will be entitled to a simple loading.

Difference Between Employment Types

The main difference between the two employment types is their flexibility and rate of pay. These differences mean that employers will need to weigh whether the benefit of flexible and non-guaranteed working hours and the right to terminate employees with little or no notice is worth the higher hourly pay rate for casual employees.

The alternative of hiring part-time employees means you will have lower costs in the short term. However, you will be responsible for their leave entitlements in the long term. You may choose to schedule this leave during holiday periods, depending on the type of business you operate or when business is slow.

Other Factors

There are some other factors you should consider when making the decision to hire staff as part-time or casual employees, including the:

• time or season of the year, for example, you may want to hire casuals over the Christmas period;
• profitability of your business, which may encourage you to keep costs low while still starting up;
• industry or nature of the work, for example, the hospitality or retail industry comprises much casual staff;
• hours required since you may want to have the ability to offer shifts on an as-needed basis rather than committing to guaranteed work hours; and
• training required, given hiring part-time staff means you will likely invest a significant amount of money in their training.

Best Practice

Regardless of whether you hire your new employee on a part-time or casual basis, it is best practice to provide your new staff with an Employment Agreement to ensure they are aware of their:

• employment status;
• pay;
• hours of work;
• leave entitlements; and
• notice of termination.

Casual Conversion

As an employer, you may have an obligation to offer your casual employees the right to convert to permanent employment if:

• they have been employed for at least 12 months; and
• they have worked a regular pattern of hours on an ongoing basis for at least the last 6 months of that period.

If your casual employee can continue to work without significant adjustment, you can convert them either to permanent full-time or part-time employment. However, you are not obligated to offer casual conversion if there are reasonable business grounds not to do so. 

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Key Takeaways

Understanding the different employment types can be quite confusing. Part-time employees are similar to full-time employees; however, they work fewer hours and receive the same benefits on a pro-rata basis. On the other hand, casual employees are not given guaranteed hours, have irregular work, and receive few entitlements but are paid a higher hourly rate. Therefore, it is up to your business to consider which employment style fits your business’ needs. 

If you need help deciding whether to hire staff as part-time or casual employees, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. You will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. Call us today on 1300 544 755 or visit our membership page.

Frequently Asked Questions