Casual contracts are often used by employers that require flexibility in their workforce, for example where the need for workers is unpredictable.
In general, employers will want to engage casual staff as workers rather than employees, to retain maximum flexibility and to avoid the possibility that they will be entitled to the rights, including the right to claim unfair dismissal, available to employees but not workers.
Under a casual contract, there is usually no obligation on the employer to offer work to the individual and, crucially, no obligation on the individual to accept work that is offered, thus avoiding the mutuality of obligation necessary for an employment relationship.
However, from 6 April 2020, the right to a written statement of terms and conditions of employment extends to workers, including workers on casual contracts, and employers must include terms relating to hours and days of work, and how they may be varied, in the statement.
