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Sunday, 13 October 2013

Definition of Employment Status


There are 4 categories of employment:- Permanent Full Time, Permanent Part Time, Casual & Temporary.

Determining which category applies to your employees can be confusing.  Below is an explanation of each category.
 

Permanent Full Time Employees:

A full time employee is employed to work on an ongoing basis for an average maximum of 38 ordinary hrs/week.

Full time employees are entitled to all of the conditions of the National Employment Standards(NES) which include:
a Paid annual leave
a Paid personal leave        
a Public holidays
a Parental leave                
a Long service leave         
a Period of notice if terminating job


Permanent Part Time Employees:

A part time employee is employed to work a reasonably predictable number of hours & days during the week that is less than 38 hrs per week.

Part time employees are entitled to all of the conditions of the National Awards & NES (these are paid pro rate depending on the hours worked. Entitlements include –

a Paid annual leave         
a Paid personal leave        
a Public holidays
a Parental leave                
a Long service leave         
a Period of notice if terminating job

When hiring a part time employee you must come to an agreement with the employee in writing & this should include:                   
a Number of hours to be worked daily           
a specific days of the week they will work
a the start & finish time of each day            
a the specific times & duration of meal breaks or the regular pattern of engagement as agreed by both parties.       

 Any changes to this agreement must be made in writing.


Casual Worker:

A casual employee is someone that doesn’t usually have regular hours of work & is not guaranteed particular hours & is not on a regular roster.

They are paid for the hours of work they perform & receive a casual loading on their rate of pay giving them a higher rate.  This loading is to compensate them for not receiving some of the benefits of fulltime & part time workers and is usually 25%; You must check the relevant award for the exact rate.

Casual Workers are entitled to the following under the NES         
a 2 days unpaid carers leave per occasion     
a   2 days compassionate leave per occasion                 
a   Community Service leave (except paid jury service
a   Unpaid parental leave    
a   2 days unpaid adoption leave
a   A day off on public holidays unless asked to work by the employer
a A maximum of 38 hrs per week, plus reasonable additional hours

If you incorrectly classify a casual employee – Fairwork can require you to pay the employee annual/personal leave for the term of their employment & you cannot offset the casual loading already paid


Temporary Employee:

Temporary employees are engaged for a matter of days, weeks or months on a fixed term contract of for a particular purpose or project.  Workers engaged to replace permanent employees who might be on long service leave, maternity leave or workers compensation would also be considered to be temporary.  The key is that the job in not expected to be ongoing - there is no guarantee of work once the agreed project/purpose/replacement period is completed.

 

Award Finder:

A great toll to use for determining what your award states in regards to the above categories is the Award Finder on the Fairwork website.  This tool allows you to search for your award by job title, occupation, award code or industry.


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