Who is an employee
An employee is anyone who has agreed to be employed, under a contract of service, to work for some form of payment. This can include wages, salary, commission and piece rates.
This includes:
- homeworkers
- people who have been offered and have accepted a job
- fixed-term employees
- seasonal employees
- casual and part-time employees
- probationary and trial employees.
An employee is not:
- a self-employed or independent contractor
- a sharemilker
- a real estate agent whose agreement says they are an independent contractor
- a volunteer who does not receive a reward for working
- in some cases, a person who is engaged in film production.
Fixed term employees
If an employer has a genuine reason based on reasonable grounds to offer a fixed term, this should be explained at the start and put in the written agreement. The employment agreement must set out how the employment will end and why.
For example, a job may be for a certain time (e.g. for six months) or until something happens (e.g. when the project ends) or until work is completed (e.g. until the fruit is picked). Such workers have the same rights as other employees, except that their jobs will finish at the end of the fixed-term.
Casual and part-time employees
The rights of full-time employees apply equally to part-time employees. These rights also apply to casual employees, but the way in which annual holidays, sick and bereavement leave are applied can vary for these employees.
