Who must comply with Casual employment definition + conversion (Closing Loopholes 2024)?

New casual employment definition + employee choice pathway from 26 August 2024.

Closing Loopholes No. 2 Act 2024. Replaced statutory casual employment definition with a substance-over-form approach + introduced employee choice + dispute resolution at FWC.

Applies when the business has casual employees.

How the regulator frames it: All employers of casuals.

What triggers it: Casual engagement decision + 6/12 month review points.

Jurisdiction: Commonwealth law, so the test is the same in every state and territory.

Outcome across the 35 industries Rules Mate maps (35 of 35: depends on size or structure).

The answer is the same in every industry: depends on size or structure. Industry does not change who must comply.

Structure does not change the answer across all industries: for every structure the answer is "depends on size or structure".

Each line is one run of the Rules Mate applicability engine for a single business profile, with the reason the engine gives:

• Pty Ltd company in real estate agents with 6–19 employees, turnover $1M–$3M: applies. You employ casuals.
• Pty Ltd company in real estate agents with no employees, turnover $100K–$1M: does not apply. Requires casual employees.

When due

Continuous + on employee notification.

Frequency

Ongoing

Evidence to keep

Casual contracts + decisions + employee notifications.

In force from

26 August 2024

Status

Current

Priority

Critical

No maximum penalty is recorded for this obligation in the Rules Mate corpus; check the regulator source below.

Rules Mate has not yet classified the audit or assurance level for this obligation. Any audit, review or certification requirement is set by the regulator source listed below.

• Casual conversion under new definition — 12 months: 26 August 2025 (one-off). New casual employment definition for employees employed for ≥12 months.

If this obligation applies to you, so does this one: the engine uses the same rule for each.

• Comply with casual employee conversion (Closing Loopholes — s 66B Fair Work Act)

• Avoid sham contracting (s 357 Fair Work Act): Employer must not misrepresent employment as contractor relationship.
• Employee-like worker minimum standards (Closing Loopholes No. 2 2024): FWC can set minimum standards for 'employee-like' workers (gig economy).
• Provide 10 days paid family + domestic violence leave (FDV): Paid FDV leave for all employees: 10 days per year (full-time + part-time + casual).
• Same job same pay (labour hire reform): Labour hire workers entitled to same minimum pay as direct employees on host site.
• Pay annual leave loading where the award or contract provides: Most modern awards require 17.5% loading on annual leave taken or paid out on termination.

Rules Mate tracks 19 published obligations tagged "workplace", 5 of them rated critical. For a professional services Pty Ltd company with 6–19 employees operating in every state, 13 of those apply outright. This obligation is rated critical priority, and is an ongoing duty.

Regulated by Fair Work Ombudsman and Fair Work Commission.

FWO: Enforces compliance with the Fair Work Act, awards, and agreements. Investigates underpayments, brings civil penalty proceedings, and publishes compliance notices.

FWC: National workplace relations tribunal. Sets modern awards and the national minimum wage, resolves unfair dismissal and general protections disputes, and registers enterprise agreements.

• Fair Work Ombudsman
• Fair Work Commission

FW Act: Federal workplace relations Act.

• Fair Work Act 2009

Free tools that help with this obligation:

• Payday Super readiness
• Right to Disconnect policy
• WGEA readiness