Picture one of your regular casual staff. They are rostered every week and rarely say no to a shift. They have been with you for eight months, and one day they hand you a letter asking to go permanent.
Are you ready for that conversation? Since 26 February 2025 (26 August 2025 for small business), the law gives eligible casual employees the right to ask. It is called the Employee Choice Pathway, and getting your response wrong can mean a dispute at the Fair Work Commission.
At FINDMEA, we talk to Queensland business owners about this every week. Businesses that hire casual staff directly now carry these compliance obligations alone. Businesses that work with a casual employment agency like FINDMEA usually do not, because the agency is the legal employer.
That is the real value of a good casual employment agency. It takes the legal risk off your desk, not just the recruiting. Keep reading to see exactly where your obligations start and where they end.
What Changed Under the Closing Loopholes Reforms?
Australia’s casual employment laws were rewritten in two stages. The first stage, in August 2024, redefined what a “casual employee” actually is. The second stage rolled out the Employee Choice Pathway through 2025.
Before 2024, your employment contract mostly decided whether a worker was casual. Now the law looks at how the job actually works. A contract that says “casual” no longer settles the question by itself.
Under section 15A, a worker is casual only if there is no firm advance commitment to ongoing work. This is judged by the real pattern of the job, not just the contract.
The Fair Work Ombudsman looks at several things together. These include roster regularity, whether the worker can genuinely refuse shifts, and whether permanent staff do the same work.
Why This Matters for Businesses Using Regular Casuals
If you roster the same casuals every week and they rarely turn down shifts, that person may no longer meet the legal test for casual work. This gap between paperwork and practice is what triggers conversion requests. It is also what leads to disputes at the Fair Work Commission.
How Does the Employee Choice Pathway Work?
A casual employee who believes they no longer meet the definition can give written notice. They can ask to convert to full-time or part-time work. Employers must assess the request and respond in writing within 21 days.
Employer size
Eligibility timeframe
Response deadline
15+ employees
6 months’ service
21 days
Fewer than 15 employees (small business)
12 months’ service
21 days
You can only refuse a request on specific grounds. You cannot refuse simply because it is inconvenient.
Valid vs Invalid Grounds for Refusal
Valid grounds include real operational disruption or the need for major changes to how work is organised. “We would rather keep them casual” is not a valid ground. Using it invites a dispute.
What Happens If a Dispute Reaches the Fair Work Commission?
Unresolved disputes go to the Fair Work Commission for conciliation. In some cases, the Commission can arbitrate and issue a binding decision. Getting your first response right matters.
What Penalties Apply for Getting This Wrong?
The Fair Work Act includes civil penalties for breaches of casual conversion rules. It also has anti-avoidance provisions. You cannot dismiss someone and re-engage them as casual purely to dodge conversion.
This sits inside a wider enforcement push. Wage theft became a criminal offence at the federal level from 1 January 2025, under changes explained on the Fair Work Ombudsman’s wage theft page.
The Hidden Cost: Admin Time
Penalties are only part of the story. Every notice needs a documented assessment and a timely written response. For a business already managing staff shortages, that is real time pulled away from other work.
What Pay and Rights Do Casual Staff Have?
Casual employees have workplace rights, even without paid leave. These include minimum pay under the relevant award, safe working conditions, and access to the Employee Choice Pathway once they qualify.
To make up for the lack of paid leave, casual workers usually receive a casual loading on top of the base rate. Many awards set this at around 25%, and some also guarantee a minimum payment for a set number of hours per shift. You can check exact rates for a role using the Fair Work Ombudsman’s Pay and Conditions Tool.
Casual work also comes with less certainty. There is no guaranteed ongoing commitment to hours, and income can vary week to week depending on the shifts on offer. Casual roles can generally be ended by either side without notice, which is part of the trade-off for the higher hourly rate.
How Does Labour Hire Remove This Exposure?
In a labour hire arrangement, the on-hire worker is legally employed by the agency, not the host business. FINDMEA, for example, is the employer of record for the casual staff it places with client businesses.
Because the agency is the employer, the Casual Employment Information Statement and Employee Choice Pathway responses sit with the agency. This is not a loophole. It is the same “who is the employer” test that already exists under the Fair Work Act.
What the Agency Handles vs What the Host Business Manages
Obligation
Direct employer
Host business using labour hire
Casual Employment Information Statement
Employer
Agency
Employee Choice Pathway response
Employer
Agency
Reference checks and screening
Employer
Agency
Payroll and award compliance
Employer
Agency
Day-to-day supervision on site
Employer
Host business
Casual staff placed through an agency keep the same rights. These include minimum award pay, safety protections, and access to the Casual Employment Information Statement. Those rights do not disappear. The paperwork just sits with a different employer.
How Is a Casual Employment Agency Different From Direct Hiring?
A casual employment agency (also called a casual staffing agency) recruits, screens, and employs workers. It then places them with client businesses to cover shifts, projects, or seasonal demand. The agency runs payroll and handles compliance.
Direct hiring means you own every step. You advertise the role, interview candidates, run reference checks, and manage the whole employment relationship. Agency-supplied casual labour hands recruitment, screening, and the legal employment relationship to the agency.
Job seekers do not pay a fee to register with a legitimate recruitment agency. Agencies earn their fee from the client business, not the candidate.
Why Casual Work Suits Both Employers and Job Seekers
Casual roles often provide quicker access to employment than a traditional hiring process, since agencies already hold a pool of screened talent ready to start. Flexible scheduling also lets many casual employees choose which shifts to accept. Employers, in turn, seek casual staff for fast hiring and workforce flexibility during busy periods.
A temporary agency placement generally ends when the client no longer needs the extra staff, not on a fixed contract date. This is what gives a casual employment agency its edge for short-term work: businesses scale up or down without a lengthy hiring or termination process.
Common casual jobs include forklift drivers, warehouse staff, and general labourers, alongside admin and hospitality roles. Many of these positions only need basic computer or communication skills, though physical roles like forklift operation usually require a current licence. Pay varies by state, employer, and experience. Casual forklift and warehouse pay in Perth is commonly quoted at roughly AU$25 to AU$35 per hour across recent job ads and salary data, though individual listings can sit above or below that band.
When a Casual Labour Hire Provider Makes Sense
Labour hire tends to make sense for short-notice staffing needs, seasonal spikes, or ongoing staff shortages. This is common in construction, logistics, hospitality, and manufacturing. Staffing pressure is not unique to Queensland either. Businesses in New South Wales, Melbourne, and other sectors report similar shortages.
Specialisation is common in this market. JV Recruitment, for instance, focuses on casual labour hire for construction, logistics, civil, manufacturing, and facilities management clients. Agencies like this build deep talent pools in a narrow set of industries, rather than trying to cover every sector.
Candidates for casual labour hire roles typically bring at least twelve months of relevant experience. A thorough screening process usually includes telephone screening, reference checks with previous employers, and behavioural interview techniques to assess attitude and skills, helping the agency place the right candidate from a pool of screened talent.
Facing a staff shortage right now?Submit a vacancy with FINDMEA and our team will start searching our network for suitable candidates who match your specific requirements.
A Compliance Checklist for Queensland Employers
Audit your current casual workforce against the section 15A test, not just the contracts.
Confirm every casual has a current Casual Employment Information Statement.
Track service length so you can flag Employee Choice Pathway eligibility early.
Train managers on valid and invalid grounds for refusing a request.
Review high-turnover or high-risk roles for a switch to labour hire.
Document your response process so 21-day deadlines are never missed.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Employee Choice Pathway?
It lets an eligible casual employee formally request conversion to permanent full-time or part-time work. It replaced the old system, where employers had to proactively offer conversion.
How long does a casual employee need to work before requesting conversion?
Six months for employers with 15 or more employees. Twelve months for small businesses with fewer than 15 employees.
Can a small business refuse casual conversion in Queensland?
Yes, but only on specific grounds set out in the Fair Work Act, such as genuine operational impact. A blanket refusal without valid reasoning can be challenged at the Fair Work Commission.
Does using a labour hire agency remove all casual employment risk?
It removes the direct employer obligations, since the agency is the legal employer. Host businesses should still confirm their agency is genuinely compliant.
What is the Casual Employment Information Statement, and when must it be issued?
It is a document explaining a casual employee’s rights, including access to the Employee Choice Pathway. It must be given at the start of employment, and again at set points afterward.
Why a Recruitment Agency Makes Casual Compliance Easier
Casual conversion compliance is not a one-off task. Service lengths keep changing, rosters shift, and each new hire resets the eligibility clock.
Many human resources and management teams end up handling this manually, on top of their day-to-day work. A recruitment agency can genuinely contribute here, by taking the admin off your plate rather than just filling a seat.
For many Queensland businesses in construction, logistics, hospitality, retail, and healthcare, working with a recruitment agency shifts that admin load off their plate. FINDMEA has operated as an Australian-owned recruitment and labour hire company since 2003, across industrial, professional, administration, retail, and trades and engineering sectors.
Need staff at short notice?Get in touch with FINDMEA to talk through your staffing needs. You can also contact us directly on 07 3899 2580. Our team runs reference checks and screening, drawing on real industry insights, so you get a reliable candidate without carrying the legal admin yourself.
Building a bigger team this year? FINDMEA’s range of services covers casual, temporary, and permanent staffing solutions. We draw on a vast network of associates and suitable candidates across Queensland, New South Wales, and Melbourne, so you can find the right candidate and the right fit for your company culture and unique needs, not just any warm body to fill a shift.
If you are a job seeker with the skills and talent to fill a suitable job, register with FINDMEA. Registration is free, and it is a fast way to access an exciting new job you will not always find elsewhere. We advertise roles across construction, logistics, retail, hospitality, and marketing support functions, among others.
We take pride in being a genuine partner, not just an agency. Our consultants are committed to matching your skills and career goals to work that fits your life, and to deliver on the benefits of a career that actually suits you. Whether you are actively seeking your next job or open to the right opportunity, we would love to connect and hear what matters most to you.
This article is general information, not legal advice. Casual conversion law is complex and fact-specific. Confirm your obligations with a qualified employment lawyer or the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) before acting on any individual case.
