Q: We have identified a casual employee who is working as a permanent employee rather than a true casual.

We are going to issue a permanent contract, but the business has asked if we can “review to see if the 8% casual loading covers the annual leave entitlements.”

We haven’t had this situation previously, so I’m not entirely sure what to do here. Do we work out how much annual leave the employee would have accrued during her employment and then see if this matches the total 8% holiday pay paid to her?

A: The 8% paid is money it does not cover the time element of entitlement (taking the leave).

Under Section 28 if the employee was on a fix term and moves to a FT role then the 8% paid could come off the leave rate when taken but you have stated this is for a casual.