Casual Conversion Request Letter: How to Ask to Become Permanent Under the Employee Choice Rules

To ask to go from casual to permanent in Australia, you give your employer a written notice under the “employee choice” pathway in the National Employment Standards. You can do this once you have worked there for at least 6 months, or 12 months if your employer is a small business, and you believe you no longer meet the definition of a casual employee. Your employer must then talk with you and answer in writing within 21 days.

Claim Done drafts a casual conversion request from your answers for a flat A$29. You download the letter straight away and give it to your employer yourself.

The rules changed: it is now called employee choice

Many people still search for a “casual conversion” letter. The Fair Work Ombudsman says the pathway to permanent employment changed from “casual conversion” to “employee choice” on 26 August 2024. Under the current rules, as at November 2026, the casual employee starts the process by giving a written notice.

The dates on the Ombudsman’s page are:

• 26 August 2024: the pathway changed to employee choice. Employment before this date is not counted when working out if you are eligible.
• 26 February 2025: a casual who was already employed just before 26 August 2024 could give a notice from this date, if not employed by a small business.
• 26 August 2025: the same casual could give a notice from this date if employed by a small business. The older casual conversion pathways stayed open for some casuals up to this date.

Who can give a notice

These rules are part of the National Employment Standards. What changes is the size of your employer.

The Fair Work Commission explains what a small business is: one that employs fewer than 15 people.

You must also believe you no longer meet the definition of a casual employee. The Ombudsman’s page on casual employees says a person is a casual if there is no firm advance commitment to ongoing work and they are entitled to a casual loading or a specific casual pay rate. Whether there is one depends on the real nature of the job and on several factors, including whether:

• your employer can offer or not offer you work, and whether that is happening
• you can accept or reject work, and whether that is happening
• it is reasonably likely there will be future work of the kind you usually do
• full-time or part-time employees do the same kind of work in the business
• you have a regular pattern of work.

No single factor decides it. The Ombudsman says a regular pattern of work on its own does not show a firm advance commitment to ongoing work.

When you cannot give a notice

You cannot give a notice while you are in a dispute with your employer about changing to permanent employment under this pathway, or if in the last 6 months your employer refused an earlier notice or you resolved a dispute with them about employee choice.

What the notice must say

The notice has to be in writing. The Ombudsman’s checklist and notification template shows what a notice covers:

• that you want to change from casual to permanent employment, full-time or part-time
• that the notice is given under the employee choice pathway in the National Employment Standards
• how long you have worked there, with your start date
• that you believe you no longer meet the definition of a casual employee
• that there is no current dispute between you about this, and no notice refused or dispute resolved in the last 6 months
• that the employer needs to consult you and respond in writing within 21 days.

The structure of a casual to permanent letter

A clear letter is short and follows this order.

1. Date and addressee. The date, the employer, and the manager or HR person by name.
2. Subject line. For example, “Changing from casual to permanent employment”.
3. The notice. That you want to become a permanent full-time or part-time employee under the employee choice pathway.
4. Your employment. Your role, your start date, and the days, shifts and hours you actually work.
5. Why you believe you are no longer a casual. The points from the definition that fit your job.
6. No dispute, no recent refusal. A line confirming both.
7. Next steps. A request to discuss the notice and reply in writing within 21 days, and any start date you would like.
8. Sign-off. Your name and signature.

The Claim Done letter is drafted from your answers. It sets out your role, your time there, the pattern of hours you describe and whether you want full-time or part-time work, and asks for a written response within 21 days. It does not promise that the change will be made.

How to send it and what to keep

The Ombudsman’s template says the notice can go into a document or an email, and asks you to keep a copy for your records. Also:

• Note the day you sent it. The 21 days run from the day you give the notice.
• Keep your rosters, payslips and messages about shifts. They show your pattern of work.
• Check your award or enterprise agreement. The Ombudsman says it may have rules about changing to permanent employment that are more beneficial, and if so those rules apply.

What your employer must do next

Before answering, your employer must consult with you about whether you would be full-time or part-time, your hours and when the change would start. Then they must respond in writing within 21 days of you giving the notice, accepting the change or not.

If they accept, the written response must say what your new status will be, your new hours of work and when the change takes effect. The change starts on the first day of your first full pay period after the response, unless you both agree to another day.

If they do not accept, the response must include the reasons. The Ombudsman says the reasons can only be that:

• you still meet the definition of a casual employee
• there are fair and reasonable operational grounds, such as substantial changes to the way work in the business is organised, significant impacts on the operation of the business, or substantial changes to your conditions being needed so the employer does not break rules in an award or agreement
• accepting would mean the employer does not comply with a recruitment or selection process required by law.

If your employer says no or does not answer

If your employer does not respond, the Ombudsman says to call its Infoline on 13 13 94. If you disagree with the answer, first try to sort it out by talking at work.

If that does not work, the Fair Work Commission may be able to help. It can use mediation or conciliation, or make a recommendation. If the dispute is still not resolved, a Commission Member can decide the outcome, including an order that the employee is treated as a casual or as a full-time or part-time employee.

You apply with Form F10A. The Commission says to use it only after you have discussed the issue in the workplace and could not agree.

You are also protected. An employer must not reduce or vary your hours, or end your employment, to avoid changing your status, or take adverse action against you for using these rights.

Mistakes to avoid

• Relying on old rules. The casual conversion process from before 26 August 2024 is not the current one.
• Counting the wrong time. Employment before 26 August 2024 is not counted, and a small business needs 12 months.
• Saying only “I work regular hours”. A regular pattern on its own is not enough. Say what else about your job shows ongoing work.
• Sending a second notice too soon. After a refusal you cannot give another notice for 6 months.
• Making it a complaint. You will keep working there. Keep the letter calm and factual.

Answer a few plain questions and Claim Done drafts your casual conversion request for a flat A$29. Claim Done is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. You read the letter, then send it yourself.