Q: One of our employees has been employed as a casual for over 10 years. She performs the role of filing/archiving. It has been agreed that she can work whichever days and hours suit her. She completes a timesheet for her hours worked every month and is paid based on hours provided. No personal leave or annual leave is accrued and she is not entitled to public holidays.

2 years ago she asked if she could be made permanent part-time. Unfortunately, while it was discussed and agreed to by management, neither HR nor payroll were informed.

She would still like the flexibility of being able to work the days and hours she chooses, but be classified as a permanent employee so that she attracts entitlements. Can we do this? Is there any reason why we could not calculate the hours she worked for the past 2 years and manually calculate her annual and sick leave entitlement?

A: You could agree with the employee that she is permanent part-time, rather than casual. If you back-dated the change of her status to the date she requested it, or the date management agreed to it, you would need to calculate annual leave, long service leave and personal leave from this time. However, you are not obliged to back-date the change.

Please note: The answer is correct at the time of publishing. Be aware that laws may change over time. Refer to Annual leave for current advice.