Casuals - remember your rights this festive season

With Christmas and Boxing Day sales now just days away, it’s a timely reminder that all workers deserve to be treated with respect, paid their lawful entitlements, and are made aware of their rights over the busy festive season.

There are 2.7 million casual employees across Australia, making up almost a quarter of the country’s workforce. They are a valuable part of Australia’s labour force, providing essential goods and services.

As more Australians head to the shops, Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Murray Watt said it’s crucial all workers are treated with respect by customers and employers.

“Tensions can often run high during busy periods at the shops, so I urge all Australians to treat workers with respect this festive season,” Minister Watt said.

“All workers deserve to feel safe and respected at work. Many workers in retail and hospitality are young and employed as casuals, and they face heightened risks of customer aggression.

“I can’t be clearer – it’s never acceptable to abuse, threaten or assault a worker for doing their job.”

Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees' Association Queensland Branch Secretary Justin Power said the SDA is once again calling for customers to keep their cool this Christmas.

“Retail staff don’t set the prices, they don’t decide how many checkouts are open and they sure don’t determine how many Christmas hams or turkeys their store gets.

Christmas should be a time of celebration for everyone so please, this Christmas, let our retail members and all retail staff serve you with respect, and let’s show them the same respect in return. No One Deserves a Serve.”

A new survey of 1,600 SDA members has found that 87% have experienced verbal abuse or violence from a customer in just the last 12 months.

With 73% saying that the incidence of abuse increased over the busy periods including Easter and Christmas, and 90% saying abusive and violent customers negatively impact their mental health and this would make it hard for them to enjoy their Christmas.

The start of a new year is also a good reminder to employers to ensure they’re complying with workplace laws.

“It is against the law to underpay any worker, including not paying super, giving staff their paid breaks, and not paying penalty rates,” Minister Watt said.

“The Albanese Government increased maximum penalties for underpayment-related breaches of the Fair Work Act, applying to non-small business employers.

“We encourage employers to proactively check their compliance with workplace laws, rather than taking a ‘set and forget’ approach which can happen during peak periods.”

This year, the Albanese Government also closed the loophole that leaves people stuck as casuals when they are working like permanent employees.

For casual employees who want more job security, the new employee choice pathway means they can choose to seek permanent employment after 6 months, or 12 months for small business employees, if they no longer believe they meet the definition of a casual employee.

This means casuals working like permanent employees will have a clearer pathway to permanency and the job security it provides.

“If a worker wants to remain a casual employee, that’s a legitimate choice, but we know some workers want more job security,” Minister Watt said.

“Our reforms have created a fair definition of a casual employee, and mean the ‘permanent casual’ rort, which denied workers their rights, is over.

“The previous Coalition Government didn’t just ignore this loophole – they actually legislated to make it worse.”

This measure commenced on 26 August 2024 for medium to large businesses and will come into effect on 26 August 2025 for small businesses.

An employer can refuse to accept this in certain circumstances, including where there are fair and reasonable operational grounds to do so.

Importantly, if casual employees like the flexibility of a casual position, and benefits like casual loading, nothing changes if they choose to remain casual, and businesses can still hire casuals the way they always have.