Casual Changes – The Pathway to Permanent Employment

South Australian Business News • Industrial Relations

Elisa Luck

Thursday, February 27th 2025

Did you know that from 26 February 2025, eligible casuals can provide written notice to their employer to change to full-time or part-time employment under the employee choice pathway?

The pathway to permanent employment under the National Employment Standards (NES) changed from ‘casual conversion’ to ‘employee choice’ on 26 August 2024.

It’s important to note that employment before 26 August 2024 isn’t counted when assessing eligibility for the employee choice pathway.

If eligible, a casual who was employed immediately before 26 August 2024 can issue a notice under the employee choice pathway:

from 26 February 2025, if not employed by a small business, or

from 26 August 2025, if employed by a small business.

When can’t a casual provide notice?

A casual employed before 26 August 2024, also can’t provide notice if in the last six months:

they’ve refused an offer from their employer to convert to permanent employment

their employer has told them in writing that they won’t be making an offer of casual conversion, or

their employer has refused a previous request for casual conversion.

Also, a casual can’t provide notice if they:

are currently engaged in an ongoing dispute with their employer about changing to permanent employment under the employee choice pathway, or
in the last 6 months, their employer refused a previous notice or they’ve resolved a dispute with their employer about employee choice under a relevant dispute resolution process.

What should you do before you respond to a request?

Communication is key and before responding, you must consult with your employee. This includes discussing:

certain details of what will change if the employer accepts the notice and the employee is no longer a casual employee
whether the employee would be full-time or part-time
what their hours of work would be and
when the change would take effect.

You must respond in writing to the employee within 21 days of the employee giving the notice, either:

accepting the change, or
not accepting the change.

If you don’t accept the change, the written response must include the reasons for the decision. Its important for you to know that you can only refuse the notice for certain reasons.

Need help?

Contact our Business Advice Hotline today on (08) 8300 0000 (select option 1) and we can help you with any questions you may have about casual changes.