Casual conversion at a glance
Eligibility6 months' employment (12 months in a small business)
How it startsWritten notification from the employee
Employer responseIn writing, within 21 days
On conversionPermanent entitlements start, casual loading ends
How does the employee choice pathway work?
Since the Closing Loopholes reforms, conversion runs on employee notification rather than employer offer. An eligible casual gives written notice that they believe they no longer meet the definition of a casual and want permanent employment. The employer must respond in writing within 21 days, and can only decline on limited grounds: the employee still genuinely meets the casual definition, or accepted operational or compliance reasons apply.
What changes on conversion?
The employee moves to permanent full-time or part-time employment, gains paid leave, notice and redundancy entitlements, and loses the casual loading. The hourly base rate is preserved; what changes is the structure of the package, security for loading.
What should employers do proactively?
Track casual tenure and patterns of regular work, because eligibility dates arrive on a schedule whether or not anyone is watching, and respond to notifications inside the 21-day window with genuine reasons, not templates. Blanket refusals are the fastest route to a dispute in front of the Fair Work Commission.
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