Melbourne Law School - Theses

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Employment protection of casual employees

THAM, JOO-CHEONG ( 2003)

Summary of Argument: This paper aims to make a contribution to the literature by examining the employment protection of workers characterised by the Australian Bureau of Statistics as casual employees (' ABS casual employees'). In undertaking this examination, this paper seeks to compare the employment protection of ABS casual employees with that available to other employees. The examination commences by discussing the key approaches that courts and industrial tribunals have taken in determining whether a worker is a casual employee under a particular industrial instrument. It then analyses the employment protection of ABS casual employees in the following areas: • protection against unfair dismissal; • entitlement to notice at common law and statute; and • protection in the event of redundancies. It concludes that the employment protection of ABS casual employees is generally inferior to that available to other employees with a sub-group of such employees, namely, those engaged pursuant to a series of distinct contracts enjoying even more slender employment protection.