Obligations for full-time, part-time and casual employees under the Federal Electrical Award

There are different obligations on an employer depending upon whether employees covered by the Electrical, Electronic and Communications Contracting Award 2020 are engaged on a full-time, part-time or casual basis. 

Full-time employee

A full-time employee is an employee who is engaged to work an average of 38 ordinary hours per week. 

Part-time employee

A part-time employee is one who is engaged to work a constant number of hours fewer than 38 per week. When it comes to engaging a part-time employee, you should keep two important points in mind. 

• First, upon engagement of a part-time employee, you must inform them of their ordinary hours of work as well as starting and finishing times. 
• Second, if a part-time employee works outside of or exceeds their rostered hours, they are entitled to payment for overtime.
  

Casual employee

A casual employee is one who accepts a job offer from the employer knowing there is no firm advance commitment to ongoing work with an agreed pattern of work. A casual employee must be paid a 25 % loading on their hourly rate of pay. The casual loading is paid instead of annual leave, personal leave, redundancy, and other permanent employment benefits. Further, a casual employee, other than an irregular casual, who has worked for 6 months’, must be notified of an entitlement to elect for conversion to full-time or part-time employment, which the employer must not unreasonably refuse. 

Statements that must be provided to employees

All new employees must be provided with a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement on commencement.

A casual employee must be given a copy of the Casual Employment Information Statement.

Disclaimer: This summary is a guide only and is not legal advice. For further information on the engagement of employees, call NECA Legal (WA) Pty Ltd on (08) 6241 6129 or email necalegalwa@ecawa.org.au.