Hiring a casual before their first shift: the paperwork checklist and what missing it costs

The cheapest document you'll ever give a new casual is free to download and takes a minute to email. If you're a company with 15 or more employees and you never send it, the maximum civil penalty is $546,000. That's the Fair Work Information Statement, and every casual needs a second statement sent with it.

Neither statement is new. The price is. A Commonwealth penalty unit went from $330 to $364 on 1 July 2026, and every Fair Work Act maximum moved with it. Here's what a venue owes a casual around their first shift, when each item falls due, and what skipping it costs.

The short version: give every new casual the Fair Work Information Statement (FWIS) and the Casual Employment Information Statement (CEIS) before, or as soon as practicable after, they start. Repeat the CEIS at 12 months with fewer than 15 employees, or at 6 months, 12 months and yearly after that with 15 or more. Agree a pay cycle before shift one, then collect a TFN declaration and give a super choice form within 28 days. General information, not legal advice.

The two statements, and the reissue dates venues miss

The FWIS covers the National Employment Standards, awards, termination and where to get help. The CEIS explains what makes someone casual and how they can move to permanent work. Both go out before, or as soon as practicable after, the start date, in person, by email or as an emailed link to the Fair Work Ombudsman's page. The repeats are where venues slip.

Two details in section 125B of the Fair Work Act matter. The headcount is tested at each milestone, not on the day you hired, so a café that grows past 14 during a casual's first six months picks up the six-month reissue. And regular, systematic casuals count towards the 15. The timing tracks the casual's right to notify you they want to go permanent, which opens at six months (12 for a small business). Here's what going permanent is really worth in dollars. Always send the version currently on the FWO site.

The full checklist before shift one

The award line most venues have never read

Clause 11.5 of the Hospitality Award says you must pay a casual at the end of each engagement unless you've agreed their pay period is weekly or fortnightly. A fortnightly pay run only covers the casuals who agreed to it, so put the pay cycle in the offer and keep the reply. Confirm the 2 hour minimum engagement (cl 11.3) and the 25% casual loading (cl 11.1) in the same message, and if you want the full line, we've costed what a casual hour really runs to.

Worked example: Mia starts on a Friday

Mia starts as a casual bartender at a Newtown pub on Friday 9 October 2026. The pub pays fortnightly on Thursdays, her first payday is 15 October, and it has 22 employees once regular casuals are counted. With 12 employees, the April row below would disappear.

What missing it costs at the new penalty unit

Not giving a statement breaches the National Employment Standards, the obligation is owed to each employee, and courts set penalties per contravention. These are maximums, not starting points, but this is the price list for anything that happens from 1 July 2026.

The two statements are free to send. Not sending them sits on the same penalty scale as an underpaid Sunday shift.

Records and pay slips have a faster route. A Fair Work Inspector can issue an infringement notice of up to $2,184 per breach for an individual and $10,920 for a company, even the first time it happens. And without records or pay slips, and no reasonable excuse, the burden flips in a wage claim: you have to prove you paid correctly.

The practical costs arrive sooner. A casual who hasn't given you a TFN (or told you they've applied for one) is taxed at the top rate plus Medicare, a quick way to lose a good bartender before their third shift. A missing choice form or late first contribution brings the super guarantee charge. And these rarely travel alone: the award mistakes that cost Sydney venues the most usually turn up beside a records problem.

Where Shiftly fits

Hiring a casual is the slow way to cover a shift, and someone who starts next Friday won't cover this Saturday. Shiftly is the roster that fills itself: free rostering and award-aware timesheets for your own team, so the hours, breaks and rates behind every pay slip are recorded shift by shift, plus an on-demand staffing network built in. Post an open shift and nearby workers on the network are offered it while you do the onboarding properly. It's a calculation and record-keeping tool, not a payroll service, and sending the statements is still your job. Get started with Shiftly.

Frequently asked questions

Do casuals get both the Fair Work Information Statement and the CEIS?

Yes. Every new employee gets the FWIS, and every new casual also gets the CEIS, both before or as soon as practicable after they start. A casual who moves onto a new fixed term contract also gets the Fixed Term Contract Information Statement.

When do I have to give the Casual Employment Information Statement again?

If you're a small business employer (fewer than 15 employees, counting regular and systematic casuals) when the casual reaches 12 months, you give it again then, and that's the last required copy. With 15 or more, it goes again after 6 months, after 12 months and every 12 months after that. Neither statement has to go to the same person more than once in any 12 months, apart from the six-month CEIS.

Does a backpacker on a working holiday visa need a super choice form?

The ATO says you don't have to give a standard choice form to an employee on a temporary visa, although they can still choose a fund by giving you one. They're owed super, the FWIS and the CEIS like any other casual, and you'll want their work rights checked before the first shift.