A casual asks to go permanent: what a venue must answer within 21 days and the grounds you can refuse on

A casual hands you a note saying they want to go permanent. From the day they give it to you, you have 21 days to answer in writing, and you have to talk to them before you do. Miss it, or refuse on a ground the law doesn't recognise, and the Fair Work Commission can end up deciding for you.

Small venues are only now seeing these notes. The employee choice pathway reached casuals at small businesses on 26 August 2025, and a casual hired since then needs 12 months on your books before they can use it. Below is what you have to answer, the four grounds you can refuse on, a checklist for the letter, and the number most owners get backwards: what converting actually costs.

Quick answer: eligible casuals (6 months' service, or 12 months at a business with fewer than 15 employees) can notify you in writing that they want full-time or part-time work. You must consult them, then reply in writing within 21 days. You can only say no if they still meet the casual definition, on fair and reasonable operational grounds, or because a legally required recruitment process applies. This is general information, not legal advice; check your situation with the Fair Work Ombudsman.

Who can ask, and when

The request is called a notice, and it has to be in writing. The Fair Work Ombudsman lists who can give one, and who can't.

Service before 26 August 2024 doesn't count towards eligibility. For a casual who was already working for you then, small businesses could first receive a notice on 26 August 2025, and larger employers on 26 February 2025.

What your written answer has to say

Consult first, then write. Before replying, you must discuss with the employee whether they'd be full-time or part-time, what their hours would be, and when the change would start. The reply itself is either a yes or a no.

• If you accept: state the new status (full-time or part-time), their hours of work and the start date. The change takes effect from the first day of their first full pay period after your response, unless you both agree on another day.
• If you refuse: give your reasons in writing, and they have to be one of the permitted grounds below.
• Either way: you can't cut their hours, change their pattern of work or end their employment to avoid the request. Those rights are protected against adverse action.

The four grounds you can refuse on

The list is closed. "We like the flexibility" and "casuals are cheaper" are not on it, and the second one usually isn't true (see the cost table below).

There's a fourth ground on top of those: accepting would break a recruitment or selection process required by law. That's rare outside the public sector. The examples in the right-hand column are illustrations, not tests; whether a ground holds up is for the Fair Work Commission if it's disputed.

A regular pattern of shifts doesn't make someone permanent on its own. But a regular pattern, every week, with part-timers doing the same job next to them, is exactly the picture Fair Work describes.

The casual definition turns on whether there's a firm advance commitment to ongoing work. Fair Work weighs whether you can choose to offer work and they can choose to refuse it, whether future work is reasonably likely, whether permanent staff do the same job, and whether there's a regular pattern. No single factor decides it. If you've been rostering someone Thursday to Sunday for a year, "they're still casual" is a weak answer. The background on loading and minimum shifts is in how casual work actually works.

What converting actually costs you

Most owners assume a permanent costs more because of leave. Run the numbers on a Level 2 food and beverage attendant under MA000009, from 1 July 2026, working the same 28 hours every week: Wednesday and Thursday 10am to 4pm, Saturday and Sunday 10am to 6pm.

Now cover those 28 hours for all 52 weeks. The casual takes four weeks off unpaid and another casual fills in. The part-timer takes four weeks of paid annual leave at base rate plus the 17.5% loading in clause 30.3, and you still pay a casual to cover them.

Converting is about $5,535 a year cheaper, and still about $1,800 cheaper if they use every hour of sick leave and you cover it with a casual. The 25% loading is a dear way to buy flexibility on hours that never change. The worker's side of the same sum is in casual loading or paid leave.

The real cost is control. Under clause 10 of MA000009 you must agree in writing the hours you'll provide and pay each week and when they're available. You can't change those hours without their written consent, can't roster them outside their availability, and must give them 2 days off a week. On a quiet week in July, you pay those hours anyway.

The response letter checklist

1. Write down the date the notice arrived. Day 21 counts from the day they gave it to you, so put it in the diary.
2. Check eligibility: 6 or 12 months' service, no refusal or settled dispute in the last 6 months.
3. Meet and talk it through: full-time or part-time, which days, how many hours, and the start date.
4. Decide against the casual definition first. If the answer is "they're no longer casual", the question is the terms, not whether.
5. If accepting: state the status, hours and start date in the letter, and attach the written part-time agreement on hours and availability that clause 10.4 requires.
6. If refusing: name the permitted ground, explain it with facts specific to your venue, and keep your notes from the consultation.
7. Leave their roster alone in the meantime. Cutting hours after a notice is the clearest sign of adverse action.
8. Update the employee record: basis changes, loading comes off, leave starts accruing, classification stays the same.

Fair Work publishes a free checklist and response template, "Responding to an employee's notice to change to permanent employment". Use it as the skeleton of your letter. If you and the employee can't settle a dispute, either of you can take it to the Fair Work Commission, which can mediate, conciliate and finally arbitrate.

Keep the new permanent's pay right with Shiftly

The awkward bit after a yes is the first few pay runs: the loading comes off, the part-time penalty rates apply, and leave starts accruing on agreed hours. Shiftly is free rostering with award-aware timesheets, so you change the employee's basis once and the calculation tool helps estimate their pay against MA000009 from that shift on, while you check it before pay day. When a converted part-timer's agreed hours leave a Saturday gap, the on-demand staffing network built into the roster can help fill it. That's the roster that fills itself. Get started with Shiftly.

Frequently asked questions

Do I still have to offer casual conversion at 12 months?

No. The old employer-offer system was replaced by the employee choice pathway on 26 August 2024, and its transition period ended on 26 August 2025. The casual now starts the process by giving you written notice, though you can still agree to convert someone at any time.

What happens if I don't reply within 21 days?

The 21-day reply is part of the National Employment Standards, so missing it is a breach, and the employee can take a dispute to the Fair Work Commission, which can arbitrate. Reply in writing on time even if the answer is no.

Can I offer part-time instead of full-time?

The status and hours are part of the consultation, and your written acceptance states which one it is. In practice, match the hours they've actually been working. Offering far fewer hours than their current pattern invites a dispute, and cutting hours to avoid the request is prohibited.

Can they ask again if I refuse?

Yes, but not for 6 months after a refusal or after a dispute about it is resolved. If their pattern keeps looking permanent, expect the next notice on schedule.