On Friday 26 March 2021, the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act) was amended to change workplace rights and obligations for casual employees. The changes were made by the Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia’s Jobs and Economic Recovery) Act 2021 (Amendment Act).
What are proper hours?
We know that a standard working week in Australia is 38 hours. You may not know they need to be completed inside a specific spread of hours.
If you are allowing your team to work outside and not their ‘proper hours’ you may be liable for overtime or penalty rates.
According to the ATO website: ‘An employee works in your business and is part of your business. A contractor is running their own business.
If a worker is legally an employee, a contract saying the worker is a contractor will not make the worker a contractor at law.
Now is the time to review your human resources
Another court decision has called into question how employees are classified.
To paraphase the decision: calling a worker a casual doesn’t make them a casual.
The same applies for contractors.
When you classify the nature of a worker you need to look at how they do their job.
