Hiring for the holiday rush? Here’s what employers must remember

If you feel like you’ve only blinked once since New Year’s, and somehow, we’ve ended up at the brink of the holiday season, you’re not alone. But time has flown and with the end-of-year festivities in sight, now’s the time many employers will soon begin recruiting and hiring Christmas casuals to help with the influx of customers coming through their doors during extended trading hours.

As with any hiring process, employers must understand their obligations to reduce any potential risks that may stem from poorly managed HR processes. Here our experts share their best-practice tips to help you sail through this process smoothly, and most importantly, compliantly.

1. The casual conundrum

Determine whether the roles you’re creating are truly casual in nature.

• Remember that there is now a new definition of casual employment in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth).  That is, a person will be considered a casual employee if, when they start employment, the employment relationship has no firm advance commitment to ongoing work and the employee is entitled to a casual loading.
• When considering whether the employment relationship is characterised by an absence of a firm advance commitment to continuing and indefinite work, relevant factors to be assessed include but aren’t limited to whether the employer can elect to offer work, whether the employee can elect to accept or reject work, whether the employee will work according to the needs of the employer, whether there are full-time and part-time employees performing the same work, and whether future work of the same kind will be available.

2. Accurate classification

Confirm the award or enterprise agreement the role is covered under and ensure you’re across the correct rates of pay, penalty rates, overtime requirements and any other additional loadings that casuals are entitled to under that award or agreement, particularly when considering extended hours which may be worked over the holiday period.

3. Water-tight hiring process

When considering candidates, ensure your selection process is non-discriminatory. This includes not considering personal circumstances such as age, gender, ethnicity, and disability (unless the characteristic is an inherent part of the role, such as a person serving alcohol must be at least 18 years old).

4. Employer obligations

Once you’ve found suitable candidates for the roles, provide them with a copy of the Fair Work Information Statement (FWIS) and the Casual Employment Information Statement (CEIS) and ensure their employment contract clearly states that:

• The role is casual in nature.
• They’re entitled to a casual loading or a specific casual rate of pay (in lieu of entitlements such as paid annual leave etc.).
• There are no fixed or guaranteed hours.
• There’s no guarantee of ongoing work after the Christmas period.

5. Minimum entitlements under awards and enterprise agreements

Keep in mind that most awards and enterprise agreements require minimum hours of engagement that must be provided to casual employees each time they perform work. Generally, each shift must be at least two or three hours. Casuals can work less than this minimum; however, they must be paid for the minimum period.

How Citation HR can help

Of course, every business is different, and how you’ll manage the hiring and employment of your seasonal staff will be unique to your organisation. That’s where Citation HR can help – if you need tailored assistance, we’re here to support your business, so you can focus on your marketing, sales, and workplace culture during the festive season.

If you’re a Citation HR client and require specific advice about how to hire and manage your Christmas casuals, give the 24/7 HR Advice Line a call.

Not a Citation HR client and need some advice? Citation’s HR services can support your business on a range of workplace matters. Contact us today to arrange a confidential, no-obligation chat.

About our author

Zaynab Aly is a Senior Workplace Relations Consultant at Citation HR. She has a particular interest in the retail industry and regularly provides advice on workplace matters to find solutions for clients.