What is Casual Employment? | Meaning & Definition | Akrivia HCM

What is Casual Employment?

Casual employment is when workers are hired only when their services are needed. In this practice, employees’ service can be terminated without notice. It is a type of employment where the employee’s status and timetable may be subject to sudden changes. It involves minimal financial risk for both the employer and the employee. An employee can be dismissed without any obligation to provide severance pay.

A casual employee can resign from his duties without giving proper notice. There is no provision for probationary periods in casual employment. Casual employees also receive higher pay rates than regular full-time employees because they do not receive the same leave or travel entitlements as regular employees do.

Most companies prefer to hire casual employees through casual employment contracts. The contracts document the terms applicable to the employees. A casual worker agreement provides a safeguard against possible future disputes by ensuring clarity, and it is also an effective means of resolving future conflicts.

Key Characteristics of Casual Employment

Casual employment mainly differs from permanent employment along the following lines:

• There are no set work hours.
• There’s no guarantee of receiving ongoing work.
• Usually there are no added employee benefits.
• Companies mostly have far less rules when it comes to terminating casual employees.
• Employees can be hired for a short term for the completion of a short-term project.

Types of Casual Employment

Casual employment can be of these types, depending on the type of work hours:

• Daily/hourly work: In this type of casual contract, casual employees have daily or hourly work requirements.
• Seasonal work: Casual employees hired with a seasonal contract are hired for specific times of the year when workload temporarily increases due to the nature of the job.
• Contractual work: Employees under this kind of contract are hired for short term projects.
• Zero-hour contracts: This kind of casual employment contract doesn’t ensure and minimum number of work hours.

Benefits of Casual Employment

Benefits of casual employment are as follows:

1. Casual employment is an ideal way to deal with seasonal surges in workloads without having to expend resources in onboarding full-time employees.
2. It is also suitable for situations when a company needs workers but is unsure of their weekly hours or exact schedule.
3. Employment contracts for casual employees can be beneficial to employers, as they provide a great degree of administrative convenience.
4. Casual employment contracts contain provisions that the engagement with the employee is by a purely temporary pattern to suit the employer’s particular business needs.
5. A written contract for casual employees can help manage expectations about job roles, salary, and hours.

Casual Employment – FAQs

What is an example of casual employment?

An example of casual employment would include a hospital hiring a travel nurse for a 13 week-long assignment during the flu season. Another example includes seasonal workers being hired at a farm only during harvest season.

Do casual employees need to serve notice?

Casual employees commonly do not need to serve a notice period, unless it is specifically stated in their clause.

Is PF applicable for casual employment?

Casual employees do not usually receive any additional employee benefits.

Is casual employment the same as part-time?

No, casual employment differs from part-time contracts as casual employees do not have any scope of receiving any ongoing work or additional benefits. Part-time employees usually have more safeguards against termination, compared to casual workers.