Casual Roster Examples

New laws in effect

Effective 1 January 2024, Fair Work legislation Amendment (Protecting Worker Entitlements) Act 2023 was enacted, introducing changes to Coal LSL’s governing legislation.

What the changes mean

The impacts of these changes will vary depending on casual employee’s specific circumstances:

• When casuals take long service leave, they will be paid at a rate that includes quantified casual loading.

• Certain weeks in which no hours are worked due to roster arrangements will be counted as ‘applicable weeks’ for qualifying service.

• When casuals work at least 1 day during the 7-day week period, it will be considered an ‘applicable week’, and the whole week will be recognised as a period of qualifying service.

• By averaging the hours casuals work per applicable week, over a 3-month period, week- to-week variations in working hours are accounted for in the calculation of long service leave accrual.

Casual employee roster examples

Casual employees can accrue qualifying service for certain weeks where no hours are worked due to roster arrangements. The below examples have been developed to help explain the changes and how they might affect casual employees who work under different roster arrangements.

Example 1

A casual employee working a lifestyle roster

Warren is a casual employee of ABC Pty Ltd and works a lifestyle roster. His regular roster is 4 days on, 5 days off, 5 days on, 4 days off. He has taken no periods of unpaid leave during the quarter.

Conclusion: This roster means that Warren works at least one day in each week of the quarter and as a result, all weeks are classified as applicable weeks and will contribute to the accrual of his qualifying service. Warren’s working hours will be averaged over the number of weeks in the quarter. Warren’s weekly LSL credit will be calculated based on the lesser of the average weekly hours calculated, or 35 hours.

Example 2

A casual employee working a 10 hour shift roster

Steve works as a casual for 123 Pty Ltd at a coal mine. His roster is 7 days on, 7 days off. He is rostered to work Mondays to Sundays, working 10-hour shifts. He has taken no periods of unpaid leave during the quarter.

Conclusion: Although Steve works no hours in the week of his off-swing, it occurs between two weeks in which he does work as an eligible employee and as a result, all weeks are classified as applicable weeks and will contribute to his qualifying service. Steve’s working hours will be averaged over the number of weeks in the quarter. Steve’s weekly LSL credit will be calculated based on the lesser of the average weekly hours calculated, or 35 hours.

Example 3

A casual employee who works a 10 hour shift roster and takes unpaid leave

Carol works for DEF Pty Ltd as a casual employee on a 7 on, 7 off roster. She works 10- hour shifts, Monday to Sunday. Carol has had a family emergency during her 7 day off- swing and needs to take the following on-swing week as unpaid leave (LWOP).

Conclusion: The additional time away on LWOP means that Carol has had three consecutive weeks in which she has not worked any eligible hours. As a result, these three weeks are not classified as applicable weeks and will not count as qualifying service. Carols working hours worked will be averaged over the 10 applicable weeks in the quarter.

Example 4

A casual employee who takes unpaid leave within a week that they also work

Tayla works for GHI Pty Ltd as a casual employee on a 7 on, 7 off roster. They work 10-hour shifts, Monday to Sunday. Tayla decides to take a few days of unpaid leave (LWOP) during their on-swing weeks, to have a holiday. In total, there is one full 7-day week in which Tayla does not work, they work partial weeks both before and after that week.

Conclusion: Although Tayla does not work any hours for a 14-day period, the period is spread over three weeks, with only one complete 7-day week with no working hours (week 4). For the off-swing week to be classified as an applicable week, Tayla must work at least 1 hour in the week prior and the week after, the week where no hours are worked. As Tayla has worked 1 day in week 3, prior to the rostered 7 days off (week 4), and has worked 1 day in week 5, this means weeks 3, 4 and 5 are classified as applicable weeks and will contribute to their qualifying service. Tayla’s weekly LSL credit will be calculated based on the lesser of the average weekly hours calculated, or 35 hours.

Example 5

A casual employee who takes unpaid leave within a week that they also work

Simon is a casual employee of GHI Pty Ltd and works a lifestyle roster. His regular roster is 4 days on, 5 days off, 5 days on, 4 days off. Simon decides to take 4 days of unpaid leave (LWOP) to have a holiday. As a result he works for one day in week 3 and does not work any hours in week 4 of the first month.

Conclusion: Although Simon works no hours in week 4, it occurs between two weeks in which he does work as an eligible employee and as a result, all weeks are classified as applicable weeks and will contribute to his qualifying service. Simon’s working hours will be averaged over the number of weeks in the quarter. Simon’s weekly LSL credit will be calculated based on the lesser of the average weekly hours calculated, or 35 hours.