On 26 March 2021, sections of the Fair Work Act were updated. This includes in casual employees entitlements, as well as minimum requirements for all employees that businesses of all sizes need adhere to in order meet their workplace obligations.
Minimum Employee Entitlements
The National Employment Standards (NES) are now 11 minimum employment entitlements that have to be provided to all employees.
The national minimum wage and the NES make up the minimum entitlements for employees in Australia. An award, employment contract, enterprise agreement or other registered agreement can’t provide for conditions that are less than the national minimum wage or the NES. They can’t exclude the NES.
11 NES Entitlement now consist of:
- maximum weekly hours
- requests for flexible working arrangements
- offers and requests to convert from casual to permanent employment
- parental leave and related entitlements
- annual leave
- personal/carer’s leave, compassionate leave and unpaid family and domestic violence leave
- community service leave
- long service leave
- public holidays
- notice of termination and redundancy pay
- provision of Fair Work Information Statement and Casual Employment Information Statement
The new Fair Work information Statement and Casual Employment information statement have now been added to our portal and ready for existing clients to acc
Employees covered by the NES
All employees in the national workplace relations system are covered by the NES regardless of the award, registered agreement or employment contract that applies.
Casual employees and the NES
Businesses that employ casual workers will now be need to aware of their entitlements, which now include:
- offers and requests to convert from casual to permanent employment
- unpaid carer’s leave
- unpaid compassionate leave
- unpaid family and domestic violence leave
- unpaid community service leave
- the Fair Work Information Statement and the Casual Employment Information Statement.
In some states and territories long serving casuals are eligible for long service leave.
Casual employees can request flexible working arrangements and take unpaid parental leave if:
- they have been employed by their employer as a casual employee on a regular and systematic basis over at least 12 months, and
- they reasonably expect to continue being employed by the employer on a regular and systematic basis.
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