When a casual employee becomes permanent
The issue whether to classify an employee as a casual employee or a permanent employee is often contested between employers and employee if and when the relationship breaks down. The courts are not in the least reluctant to go behind what might have been initially agreed and look at the reality of the situation as it has developed, often over years. For example here are two cases where the Federal Circuit Court has held that the regularity and persistence of shifts had become so systemic over the period of the employee’s employment that although initially the employee agreed to work as a casual the reality was that he was came to be regarded by the law as a permanent employee and therefore entitled to accrue annual leave, something a true casual employee does not.
Apostolides v Mantina Earthmovers and Constructions Pty Ltd [2018] FCCA 279
Skene v Workpac Pty Ltd [2016] FCCA 3035