By Robby Magyar
If you feel like you’ve only blinked once since New Year’s, and somehow, we’ve ended up at the brink of the holiday season, you’re not alone. But time has flown and with the end of year festivities in sight, now’s the time many employers will soon commence the process of recruiting and hiring Christmas casuals to help with the influx of customers coming through their doors during extended trading hours.
As with any hiring process, employers must understand their obligations to reduce any potential risks that may stem from poorly managed HR processes.
These five best-practice tips will help you get through the process as smoothly as possible:
- Determine whether the roles you’re creating are truly casual in nature with irregular and uncertain shift availability. If the role is likely to have regular and ongoing hours, this may not amount to a casual engagement.
- Remember that the definition of ‘casual employment’ under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) is where an offer of employment is made and accepted on the basis that the employer has not made a firm advance commitment to continuing and indefinite work according to an agreed pattern of work.
- Relevant factors include whether the employer can elect to offer work, whether the employee can elect to accept or reject work, whether the employee will work according to the needs of the employer, whether the employment is described as casual, and whether the employee will be entitled to a casual loading or specific casual rate of pay.
- Confirm the Award or enterprise agreement the role is covered under and ensure you’re across the correct rates of pay, penalty rates, overtime requirements and any other additional loadings that casuals are entitled to under that Award/agreement, particularly when considering extended hours which may be worked over the Christmas period.
- When considering candidates, ensure your selection process is non-discriminatory. This includes not considering personal circumstances such as age, gender, ethnicity, and disability (unless the characteristic is an inherent part of the role, such as a person serving alcohol must be at least 18 years old).
- Once you’ve found suitable candidates for the roles, provide them with a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement (FWIS) and the Casual Employment Information Statement (CEIS) and ensure their employment contract clearly states that:
- The role is casual in nature.
- They’re entitled to a casual loading or a specific casual rate of pay (in lieu of entitlements such as paid annual leave etc.).
- There are no fixed or guaranteed hours.
- There is no guarantee of ongoing work after the Christmas period.
- Keep in mind that most Awards and enterprise agreements require minimum hours of engagement that must be provided to casual employees each time they perform work. Generally, each shift must be at least two or three hours. Casuals can work less than this minimum; however, they must be paid for the minimum period.
Follow these best-practice steps, and you should have a happy and successful Christmas trade period.
Of course, every business is different, and how you’ll manage the hiring and employment of your Christmas casuals will be unique to your own organisation. That’s where HR Assured comes in – if you need tailored assistance, we’re here to help, so you can focus on your marketing, sales, and business culture during the festive season.
If you require specific advice about how to hire and manage your Christmas casuals, give the 24/7 Telephone Advisory Service a call.
Not an HR Assured client and need some advice? The team at HR Assured can support your business on a range of workplace matters. Contact us today to arrange a confidential, no-obligation chat.
Robby Magyar is a Workplace Relations Consultant at FCB and HR Assured who relishes the opportunity to assist businesses in the best practice approach to managing employees and compliance concerns. He has a particular interest in making employment law and human resources digestible for our clients.