“Employers will understand the Government’s decision to introduce a Bill into Parliament to extend casual conversion rights to all employees who have worked on a regular basis for 12 months or more, given the Fair Work Commission’s recent decision to extend casual conversion rights across the award system,” Australian Industry Group Chief Executive, Innes Willox, said today.
“Critically, the right of an employer to refuse an employee’s request to convert on reasonable business grounds was preserved by the Fair Work Commission and is preserved in the Fair Work Amendment (Right to Request Casual Conversion) Bill 2019.
“Casual conversion provisions give employees the flexibility to remain employed casually if this is what they want. Experience shows that the majority of casual employees, when given the option to convert, prefer to remain employed on a casual basis.
“The provisions of the Bill need very careful consideration to ensure that there are no unintended consequences. For example, there are a diverse range of casual conversion provisions in awards and enterprise agreements, and significant complications will arise for employers and employees if the provisions of the Bill are not very carefully drafted,” Mr Willox said.
