Shifts cut until you get the hint? A six-week log that shows whether your hours are really shrinking

Your Saturday disappeared three weeks ago. Then a Thursday. Now the roster drops and you're on twice, and when you ask, the manager says it's just quiet. Maybe it is. But "I think my shifts are being cut" is a feeling, and you can't plan around a feeling.

A log turns it into a number. Four columns, six weeks, about two minutes after each roster drops. By the end you'll know whether the venue is quiet or you're being eased out, and you'll know it early enough to line up a second venue before the money runs short.

Short version: each week, write down the hours you were offered, the hours you accepted, the hours you worked, and the hours that were cut after you'd said yes. After six weeks, compare your trend with the rest of the roster. If your offered hours fall by a quarter or more for three weeks running while everyone else's hold steady, start looking for a second venue now. General information only, not legal or financial advice.

Why a casual's hours can shrink without a word

The Fair Work Ombudsman defines a casual as someone with no firm advance commitment to ongoing work, paid a casual loading instead of leave. Under the Hospitality Award that loading is 25%. The flip side is the part nobody spells out at the trial shift: the venue can offer fewer shifts, and it doesn't have to explain why.

So a shrinking roster isn't unlawful by itself. What the law does care about is the reason. That's exactly what a log helps you see, and it's why the more jobs, fewer hours each pattern of 2026 makes this worth doing even if your manager is perfectly nice.

The four columns, and what counts in each

Use your phone's notes app, a spreadsheet or the back of an order pad. Log in hours, not shifts, because a 4-hour Tuesday and an 8-hour Saturday are not the same loss.

Add a fifth, free-text column for notes. Write who picked up the shift you lost, what reason you were given, and anything that happened that week, like a pay query or a sick day. Glance at the full roster too and note roughly how many shifts went out in total. If you dropped a shift yourself, it never goes in Cut. Those notes are what separate quiet trade from a push-out later.

A worked example: six weeks on a Newtown bar roster

This Level 2 casual used to average about 24 hours a week. Three things jump out. Offered hours more than halved, from 26 to 12. Accepted tracks offered almost exactly, so this worker isn't the one saying no. And the cut rate climbed: 7 of 68 accepted hours in weeks 1 to 3 (about 10%), then 7 of 45 in weeks 4 to 6 (about 16%). In money, week 6 against week 1 is 15 fewer hours worked. At the Level 2 casual rate of $33.85 an hour that's $507.75 a week gone. If the lost hours were Saturdays at $40.62, it's $609.30. That's a rent payment, every week.

Quiet trade shrinks everyone's roster. A push-out shrinks yours while the new names get your Saturdays.

Reading the log: quiet trade or a push-out

That timing row matters most. The FWO says it's unlawful for an employer to take adverse action, which includes changing your job to your disadvantage, because you used a workplace right. Asking about your pay rate counts as one of those rights. So does giving notice that you want to go permanent under the employee choice pathway, which casuals can do after 6 months (12 months at a small business). If the cuts began the week after you queried your payslip, write that date in your notes.

Watch the 21-day clock. If your hours drop to nothing, or you're told not to come back, the Fair Work Commission's deadline for an unfair dismissal or a general protections dismissal claim is 21 days. Don't spend those weeks waiting for a text. The FWO Infoline is 13 13 94.

Two protections worth knowing before you ask

• Minimum engagement. Under clause 11.3 of the Hospitality Award, a casual must be engaged and paid for at least 2 consecutive hours each time they're required at work. Sent home after one hour, you're still owed two. Our guide to cancelled shifts covers the rest.
• Roster consultation. Clause 39 says an employer who wants to change your regular roster must give you information about the change and ask for your views first. It doesn't cover hours that are irregular, sporadic or unpredictable, so a casual with a settled weekly pattern is the one most likely to be covered.

With the log in hand, the conversation gets easier. "My offered hours have gone from 26 to 12 in six weeks, and I'd like to understand why" is hard to brush off. It also isn't an accusation, which matters if you'd rather keep the job.

When to line up a second venue

1. Your offered hours sit 25% or more below your usual for three weeks in a row.
2. The total roster hasn't dropped by anything like the same amount.
3. You've asked once, calmly, and the answer didn't change anything.
4. Don't wait for week six. Start applying that week. A new venue usually takes a week or two to get you on the floor, between the trial, the paperwork and the first roster.

Keep the first job while you build the second. Two casual jobs come with their own maths on tax, super and double-booking, which our guide to working two casual jobs walks through. And if it does turn out to be quiet trade, a second venue still smooths the slow months.

Fill the gaps without waiting on one roster

The real problem with a shrinking roster is that one manager decides your whole income. Shiftly is free workforce management for venues with an on-demand staffing network built in, so venues can fill their roster from nearby workers. On the network, you get offered shifts close to you, see the pay before you accept, and get paid fast. On-Demand is available along the east coast of Australia, hospitality first. One honest difference: an On-Demand shift is engaged by the venue per shift as an independent contractor, not as a casual employee, so read how the fee and super work before you take one. Used alongside your casual job, it's a way to top up a light week without begging for your old Saturday back. Find shifts on Shiftly.

Frequently asked questions

Can a venue cut a casual's hours without giving a reason?

Generally yes. The FWO defines a casual as having no firm advance commitment to ongoing work, so the employer can offer fewer shifts. It becomes unlawful if the cut is adverse action for a prohibited reason, such as you asking about your pay or using another workplace right.

Is having my shifts cut the same as being fired?

Not usually, but if your hours fall to zero or you're told there's no more work, it may amount to a dismissal. Unfair dismissal and general protections dismissal claims to the Fair Work Commission must be made within 21 days, so get advice quickly from the FWO, a union or a workplace relations professional.

Do I get paid if I'm sent home early?

Under the Hospitality Award, a casual must be paid for at least 2 consecutive hours each time they're required to attend work. If you're sent home after an hour, you're owed two. Past the two hours, you're paid for the time you actually worked, so log the cut either way.