Career Advice

PART X – SPECIAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO TEMPORARY WORKERS AND CASUAL WORKERS

Right to employ and application of this Part
Subject to this Act, an employer may hire a worker on terms that suit the operations of the enterprise.
Notwithstanding subsection (1), this Part does not apply to,

• piece workers;
• part-time workers;
• sharecroppers;
• apprentices;
• sea-going personnel in the fishing industry who are wage earners; and
• any person who works less than an average of twenty-four hours a week.

Casual worker
A contract of employment of a casual worker need not be in writing. A casual worker shall

• be given equal pay for work of equal value for each day worked in that organization;
• have access to any necessary medical facility made available to the workers generally by the employer;
• be entitled to be paid for overtime work by his or her employer in accordance with section 35; and
• be paid full minimum remuneration for each day on which the worker attends work, whether or not the weather prevents the worker from carrying on his or her normal work and whether it is possible or not, to arrange alternative work for the worker on such a day.

Temporary worker
a temporary worker who is employed by the same employer for a continuous period of six months and more shall be treated under this Part as a permanent worker.
Without prejudice to the terms and conditions of employment mutually agreed to by the parties, the provisions of this Act in respect of minimum wage, hours of work, rest period, paid public holidays, night work and sick leave are applicable to a contract of employment with a temporary worker.

Remuneration of temporary and casual workers
Subject to this section, the minimum remuneration of a temporary worker or a casual worker shall be determined as follows:

• where a temporary worker or a casual  worker is required to work on week-days only, the minimum monthly remuneration is the amount represented by the worker’s daily wage multiplied by twenty-seven;
• where a temporary worker or a casual worker is required to work every day in the week, the minimum monthly remuneration is  the amount represented by three hundred and sixty-five times his daily wage divided by twelve.

A temporary worker or a casual worker referred to in subsection  is not entitled to 1/27 of his or her minimum monthly remuneration as specified in that paragraph for each day the worker is absent from work during the month.
A temporary worker or a casual worker referred to in subsection (1)(b) is not entitled to a twenty-eighth, twenty-ninth, thirtieth or thirty-first part of his or her minimum remuneration as specified in that paragraph for each day the worker is absent from work during the month, depending on whether the month consists of twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty or thirty-one days.
An employer shall pay a temporary worker or a casual worker the full minimum remuneration for each day on which the worker attends work, whether or not wet weather prevents the worker from carrying on his or her normal work and whether it is possible or not, to arrange alternative work for the worker on such a day.
A temporary worker or a casual worker is entitled to be paid for overtime work by his or her employer in accordance with section 35.

Payment of remuneration for public holidays
Every employer shall pay each temporary or casual worker in respect of every public holiday the full remuneration which would have been payable to the temporary or casual worker for a full day’s work if that day had not been a public holiday.
Where a temporary or casual worker attends and performs work of a full day or more on a public holiday, the employer shall pay the worker in addition, the remuneration which would have been payable to the temporary or casual worker for the work if that day had not been a public holiday.
Where a temporary or casual worker attends and performs work for part only of a public holiday, the employer shall pay the worker in addition to the remuneration provided under subsection (1), the proportion of the remuneration for a full day’s work on that day if that day had not been a public holiday, represented by the number of hours for which the temporary or casual worker has performed work.
Any payment required to be made under subsection (1), (2) or (3) in respect of a public holiday shall be made after the public holiday in the same manner as the worker is normally paid.
When an employer fails to comply with subsection (1), (2), (3) or (4), the temporary worker or the casual worker aggrieved by the non-compliance of the employer may present a written complaint to the Commission for determination and the parties shall abide by the decision of the Commission.
The Commission may order the employer to pay, such sum as appears to the Commission to be due to the temporary worker or the casual worker on account of any remuneration payable to him or her under this section, and may in that order specify the time within which the payment shall be made.

Interpretation
In this part

•     “temporary worker” means a worker who is employed for a continuous period of not less than one month and is not a permanent worker or employed for a work that is seasonal in character;
•     “casual worker” means a worker engaged on a work which is seasonal or intermittent and not for a continuous period of more than six months and whose remuneration is calculated on a daily basis.