There are a few key differences between part-time and casual employment.
1. Leave Entitlements
Part-Time Employee | Casual Employee |
Entitled to NES paid leave entitlements such as annual leave, sick leave and carers leave. | No Paid leave entitlements for casual employees. |
2. Working Hours
Part-Time Employee | Casual Employee |
Entitled to set working hours planned by your business. For example, every Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. | Casual employees do not have any guaranteed working hours. Their working hours are flexible. Relevant awards may set out specific conditions for working hours. |
3. Public Holiday Rates
Part-Time Employee | Casual Employee |
If a part-time employee’s usual working day falls on a public holiday, they are entitled to a paid day off on the public holiday. If they don’t usually work on the public holiday, they are not entitled to a paid day off. They cannot be required to work on a public holiday but if they do work, they may be paid an additional amount as per a relevant award. | Casual employees generally do not get any payment when not working on a public holiday. Casual cannot be required to work on public holidays, but if they do work, relevant awards may set out specific additional payments. |
4. Pay
Part-Time Employee | Casual Employee |
A part-time employee’s pay is usually based on an annual salary outlined in the modern award or their employment agreement. | A casual employee's pay is based on an hourly rate of pay with a casual loading under a specific award or employment agreement. |
5. Superannuation
There are no differences in superannuation between part-time and casual employment.
Part-Time Employee | Casual Employee |
Part-time employees are entitled to 11% of their ordinary earnings (does not include overtime payments). | A casual employee is entitled to 11% of the value of their ordinary time earnings. |
6. Notice Period
Part-Time Employee | Casual Employee |
The notice period is typically set out in a modern award or employee agreement. The notice period is usually 4 weeks but you can choose to alter this initially in your employee’s contract. A part-time employee is also entitled to written notice or payment if you wish to terminate their employment. | There is no notice period. Unless your employee’s agreement or award specifies a different notice period. |
Looking to get started? Use these tools to create an employment agreement yourself:
It is important you select the right contract to suit your business and ensure you are adhering to all the correct standards within your industry.
You can discuss this with the team on the Legal & Accounting Advice Plan, or you can seek one-off advice through our Legal Services team here