Casual employees in Australia are paid a loading on their base hourly rate. The loading exists because casuals do not accrue paid annual leave or paid personal leave, and are not entitled to notice of termination or redundancy pay. It is a trade of security for a higher hourly rate.
How it works
The loading is a percentage added to the base rate set by the relevant modern award or enterprise agreement, with a default rate under the Fair Work Act where no instrument applies. It must be identifiable: paying a single blended figure without showing the loading separately can leave an employer unable to demonstrate it was paid at all.
The double-dipping problem
Employers who engaged people as casuals, paid the loading, and were later found to have engaged them as permanent employees in substance have faced claims for the leave entitlements they did not provide, on top of the loading already paid. Legislation has since allowed the loading to be offset against such claims in defined circumstances, but the safest position remains that a casual should genuinely be casual.
Why it matters when hiring internationally
Casual employment is not simply "part-time" or "flexible" as those words are used elsewhere. It is a defined status with its own definition, its own rate and its own conversion rights. Classifying someone as casual because their hours vary, when the arrangement is really ongoing and regular, is a recognised source of back-pay liability.