Under the Vehicle award, your employees can be hired as full-time, part-time or casual.
Full-time
- Employed on an ongoing basis to work an average of 38 hours per week
- Entitlements include paid annual and personal leave, public holidays, parental leave and in some cases long service leave.
Part-time
- Employed on an ongoing basis to work a regular set of hours, less than 38 hours per week
- Entitled to the same things as a full-time employee but on a pro rata basis (which means that it is based on the number of ordinary hours they work).
Casual
- Doesn't usually have regular hours of work but can be employed to work regular hours
- Employed as a casual and paid at casual rates for the hours they work
- Receive a higher rate of pay but have less entitlements; for example, casuals don't accrue paid annual leave or paid personal leave
- In some circumstances, casuals are entitled to unpaid leave entitlements such as carer's leave and parental leave
- Long term casuals may be entitled to long service leave.
Juniors
- Employees under the age of 21
- Paid a percentage of the adult rate for their classification
- Junior employees who aren’t apprentices may be prohibited from performing certain types of work - see clause 14 and 43.2 for more details.
Notification and record-keeping requirements
At the time of hiring, you must tell your new employees whether they are full-time, part-time or casual. As an employer, you must record this information and keep it with your employee records.
Best Practice Tip
It is good practice to give your new employees a letter of engagement (templates available below) outlining this information and the Award that applies to their employment, as well as their other terms and conditions of employment. By clarifying all of your expectations upfront, you can minimise the chance of misunderstanding and set the employment relationship up with a positive start. You can keep a copy of the letter with your time and wages records.