Casual employment - What is it and what are the benefits?

With the flexible nature of these working arrangements, many employers will provide a higher hourly pay rate to compensate for the lack of other benefits, such as enhanced sick pay, and to entice people to cover the required shifts.

Another benefit is the variety of skills that an individual can develop by undertaking different assignments. This is especially true if someone is signed up to an agency, where you will receive some protection such as sick pay and be placed across various businesses. Each of these locations will require different responsibilities and provide different types of training, growing the skills on a CV and making an individual more hirable in the future.

These arrangements also allow flexibility and some ownership over a working schedule. Being able to structure your schedule allows for other responsibilities to take place around the chosen working hours, with the added protection of the right to decline shifts.

One of the main benefits of casual employment for employers is its flexibility. Because casual employees are not considered permanent workforce members, employers can provide different benefits or job security than permanent employees.

This can be especially beneficial for businesses that experience fluctuations in demand for their products or services, as it allows them to adjust their workforce to meet those work fluctuations without incurring high costs.

Another benefit of casual employment for employers is that it can be a cost-effective way to fill short-term gaps in the workforce. For example, suppose an employer needs to fill a shift on short notice because a permanent employee is absent. In that case, they can often find a casual employee to fill that shift or periods of absence for their staff member.

Casual employment also has disadvantages for both employers and employees. For employees, the lack of job security and benefits can make it challenging to plan for the future or access necessary resources such as health insurance or paid time off. An employer is not required to provide shifts, so casual workers could find themselves without work. Check out your employment rights based on your employment status.

Casual employees also often have to work in low-skilled or low-paying jobs, sometimes with reduced notice of when work is required, making it challenging to make a living wage or progress in their careers.

The high turnover rate of casual employees can make maintaining a stable and skilled workforce challenging for employers. In addition, casual employees may not be as dedicated to their work as permanent staff, which can lead to lower productivity and quality of work.

If, as an employer, you have been inconsistent in providing enough shifts, staff may need to seek out additional or alternative employment to earn enough. The working relationship can decay, they become less available, and you struggle to obtain the staff to meet your business demands. After all, your casual worker is not obligated to accept your shifts.

Keeping a record of the working relationship and how often work is offered, accepted, and declined is beneficial to ensure that the relationship status has not changed to that of an employee; casual workers’ rights change after 12 weeks, for example, having the right to request a fixed-term or permanent contract.

Casual employment, also known as zero-hour contracts, can be a practical option for employers and employees. Still, it is vital to know the potential drawbacks and ensure the arrangement is fair for all parties involved.

Many industries provide flexible working arrangements, but some industries are more likely than others.

1. Hospitality: Restaurants, hotels, bars, and cafes often require staff flexibility to manage shift patterns around peak periods and staff availability.

2. Retail: Retail businesses will sometimes require more staff around peak periods such as sales or holiday seasons; these flexible workers can be used for repetitive tasks like restocking, allowing regular staff to serve customers.

3. Healthcare: Healthcare providers tend to have a bank of staff that they will call upon to cover absences.

4. Events: Managing events requires a lot of staff to set up and take down. Calling on flexible workers for single events makes this process easier without committing to a regular workforce.

5. Construction: Construction has fluctuating staff needs at various stages of project builds. Having staff on short-term contracts can help with manual labour and site clean-ups.

While this is a temporary arrangement, employers and employees should consider it an opportunity to advance people's careers.

Skill development: Exposing workers to various tasks and responsibilities creates new challenges and learning opportunities. By developing diverse skills, people can become stronger candidates for future roles.

Diverse resume: Working across different industries, roles, and companies demonstrates adaptability and a broader CV. It is also an opportunity to highlight various experiences, responsibilities, and achievements.

Internal opportunities: Larger companies often have available vacancies or other flexible working arrangements. Having someone assist already provides easy access to further trusted support.

Networking: Building relationships with colleagues, supervisors and other professionals while undertaking a short-term contract can open doors for future opportunities. These could be insights, recommendations or potential job leads.