How to hire casual employees in Australia: Rights, rules, and payroll

Published Friday 2 October 2026

Table of contents

• What is a casual employee?
• Casual, part-time, or full-time: Which type of employee do you need?
• What are casual employees entitled to?
• How to hire a casual employee: A step-by-step checklist
• What is the Casual Employment Information Statement?
• Casual conversion: The employee choice pathway
• Paying casual staff: Payroll and super
• Simplify hiring and paying casual staff with Xero
• FAQs on hiring casual employees

Key takeaways

• A casual employee has no firm advance commitment to ongoing work, so you pay a casual loading, usually 25%, instead of paid leave.
• A new casual definition applied from 26 August 2024, and since 26 August 2025 small businesses follow the employee choice pathway for casuals who want to become permanent.
• You give every new casual the Casual Employment Information Statement, pay the correct award rate plus loading, and pay super on their earnings.
• Getting the paperwork, pay, and records right from day one keeps you compliant and makes each pay run simple.

What is a casual employee?

A casual employee is someone you hire with no firm advance commitment to continuing and indefinite work. When you're hiring casual employees in Australia, that lack of a guaranteed, ongoing pattern of work is the feature that sets them apart from permanent staff.

Since 26 August 2024, a new casual employee definition has applied. Under this definition, whether someone is casual is judged on the practical reality and true nature of the working relationship, not just the words in a contract. You can read the current rules on the Fair Work Ombudsman casual employees page.

In practice, casuals suit work that comes and goes, such as busy weekends in a cafe or extra hands during a retail sale. You offer shifts as you need them, and the casual can accept or turn them down.

Casual, part-time, or full-time: Which type of employee do you need?

Choosing between a casual, part-time, or full-time employee comes down to how predictable the work is and how much commitment suits your business. Understanding casual versus part-time employment helps you pick the arrangement that fits before you make an offer.

Here's how the three types compare across the things that matter most to you as an employer:

• Casual: Work is offered shift-by-shift with no guaranteed hours, you pay a casual loading instead of paid leave, and either side can usually end the arrangement with little notice.
• Part-time: Hours are regular and agreed in advance but fewer than full-time, paid leave applies pro rata, and notice periods apply.
• Full-time: Hours are regular and ongoing, usually around 38 a week, with full paid leave entitlements and standard notice periods.

Casuals are common in industries with changing demand, such as retail and hospitality. If the work is steady and predictable, a part-time or full-time role is often the better fit.

What are casual employees entitled to?

Casual employees have real entitlements, and knowing them protects you as much as your staff. These casual employment rights in Australia are set by the Fair Work Act and the relevant award.

Casual employees are entitled to the following:

• Casual loading: You pay a casual loading rate, usually 25% on top of the base rate, or a specific casual rate set by the award, agreement or contract.
• Superannuation: You pay super on their earnings at the current super guarantee rate.
• Award minimums: You pay at least the award minimum rate, and many awards set a minimum number of hours for each shift.
• Unpaid leave: They can take unpaid carer's leave and compassionate leave when they need it.
• Family and domestic violence leave: They can access paid family and domestic violence leave.
• Unfair dismissal protection: They're protected from unfair dismissal once they've served the minimum employment period.

Casual employees don't get paid annual leave or paid sick leave, because the casual loading is designed to make up for those entitlements.

How to hire a casual employee: A step-by-step checklist

Getting a casual on board is a repeatable process, and following the same steps each time keeps your casual staff hiring checklist compliant. Work through these six steps in order.

1. Check the relevant award and pay rate

Find the award that covers the role and check the correct classification and pay rate. This tells you the base rate before you add the casual loading, so your first pay run is accurate.

2. Confirm the casual is the right fit for the work

Match the arrangement to the work. If the hours will be regular and ongoing, a part-time or full-time role may suit better and reduce compliance risk down the track.

3. Put the terms in a written casual employment contract

Set out the terms in a written casual employment contract. Cover the role, the casual nature of the work, the pay rate and loading, and how shifts are offered and accepted.

4. Give the Casual Employment Information Statement

Give the new casual the Casual Employment Information Statement before they start or as soon as possible after. This is a legal duty for every casual you hire.

5. Collect tax, super, and payroll details

Collect the details you need to pay them correctly, including a tax file number declaration, super fund choice, and bank account. The Australian Taxation Office sets out the tax file number and super choices new employees make when they start a job.

6. Set up payroll and keep accurate records

Add the casual to your payroll and pay run process, then keep accurate pay and time records. Good records make each pay cycle faster and keep you ready if you're ever asked to show them.

What is the Casual Employment Information Statement?

The Casual Employment Information Statement (CEIS) is a short document that explains a casual's conditions of employment. Giving it is a duty you meet for every casual, not a one-off task.

You give the CEIS to each new casual employee before they start or as soon as possible after. Depending on the size of your business, you also give it again at set points during their employment, such as after 12 months. You can download the current version from the Fair Work Ombudsman Casual Employment Information Statement page.

Casual conversion: the employee choice pathway

Casuals doing regular, ongoing work can move to permanent employment, and the way that happens changed under recent Fair Work reforms. The old casual conversion process became the employee choice pathway on 26 August 2024.

Under the employee choice pathway, an eligible casual can tell you in writing that they want to change to full-time or part-time work. For small business employers (meaning fewer than 15 employees), these employee choice obligations started on 26 August 2025.

When you get a written notice, you follow the Fair Work process, respond within the set timeframe, and either accept the change or explain a valid reason not to. The Fair Work Ombudsman guide on becoming a permanent employee walks through each step.

Paying casual staff: payroll and super

Paying casual staff correctly is mostly about getting two numbers right: the hourly rate and the super on top. Once you know how to pay casual employees, each pay run follows the same pattern.

To work out the pay, you start with the award base rate and add the casual loading, usually 25%. So a base rate of 20 dollars an hour with a 25% loading becomes 25 dollars an hour before tax.

On top of that pay, you add superannuation at the super guarantee rate, which is 12% since 1 July 2025. You also give each casual employee a payslip and keep pay and time records for the required period.Getting these payroll basics right from the first shift saves time and avoids back-pay headaches later.

Simplify hiring and paying casual staff with Xero

Xero payroll helps take the guesswork out of paying casual staff. You can set award-based pay rates, add the casual loading, calculate super at the current rate, and produce payslips from one place, helping keep each pay run fast and accurate.New casuals slot straight into your records, and pay and time details stay in one system ready for whenever you need them.

Ready to discover how simple paying casual staff can be? Get one month free.

FAQs on hiring casual employees

These quick answers cover the questions employers ask most often when hiring casual employees.

Do casual employees get paid more than permanent staff?

Casuals get a casual loading, usually 25%, on top of the base rate. This lifts their hourly pay above an equivalent permanent rate to make up for paid leave they don't receive.

Do casual employees get superannuation?

Yes. You pay super on a casual's earnings at the super guarantee rate, currently 12%, the same as you do for permanent staff.

Can a casual employee refuse a shift?

Yes. A defining feature of casual work is that you offer shifts and the casual can accept or turn them down, with no firm commitment on either side.

How many hours can a casual employee work?

There's no fixed limit, but many awards set a minimum number of hours for each shift, and the hours you offer can change from week to week based on your needs.