Now comes the crunchy end.
If you’re looking to expand your workforce over summer, remember there is a big difference between a part-time employee and a fixed-term or casual employee, and different employment laws apply.
It’s all in the fine print and the employment agreement is key.
A personalised employment agreement gives you the ability to protect yourself, your business, and your employees if there’s a dispute down the line.
Different employment categories
Casual
A casual employee usually means someone who is not guaranteed hours of work or regular patterns of work. In other words, they just work for you when it suits you both so this must be made clear in their employment agreement.
Fixed-term
A fixed-term employee is someone who has either a specified date or event that brings their employment with you to an end. It may be parental cover, a project, or seasonal cover for example. There needs to be a genuine reason, and you’ll need to create a fixed-term employment agreement.
Part-time (or full-time)
The difference between a part-time and full-time employee is how many hours are worked. There are no specific hours set out by law, but full-time employment is usually considered to be around 35 to 40 hours a week. Both require a permanent employment agreement.
How does it work?
It’s important to remember that all employees have rights and responsibilities, no matter what employment contract they have, but the way annual holidays, sick pay and bereavement leave apply can vary greatly for each. Make sure that any flexibility in the employment relationship such as staff being on call or casual shifts is clearly articulated in the offer and the agreement.
As an employer it’s your responsibility to make sure each one of your employees has their own written employment agreement, and that all their entitlements are being paid out correctly.
Our employment agreement evaluation tool and questionnaire can help get you started.