A sole trader who is also a non-casual employee of another business cannot receive JobKeeper payments. If a person is an eligible sole trader and also a long-term casual employee of another business, he or she can choose to either let the employer claim the JobKeeper payments on his or her behalf or claim as a sole trader but not both.  If the sole trader has non long-term casual job, he or she could only claim Jobkeeper payment under their ABN. 

Therefore, to distinguish casual employee and non-casual employee is important. 

The difference between casual employees and non-casual employees (full-time, part-time and fixed-term employees)

A casual employee does not have a firm commitment in advance from an employer about how long they will be employed for, or the days (or hours) they will work. A casual employee also does not commit to all work an employer might offer. For example, an employee who works to a roster that could change each week and can refuse or swap shifts is casual.

A casual employee:

• has no guaranteed hours of work

• usually works irregular hours

• doesn't get paid sick or annual leave

• can end employment without notice, unless notice is required by a registered agreement, award or employment contract.

Full-time and part-time employees have ongoing employment (or a fixed-term contract) and can expect to work regular hours each week. They are entitled to paid sick leave and annual leave. Full-time and part-time employees must give or receive notice to end the employment.

A long-term casual employee for JobKeeper purposes：

From 3 August 2020, a long-term casual employee is basically a casual employee employed on a regular and systematic basis for the period 2 July 2019 to 1 July 2020 . This is likely to satisfy, if they had a recurring work schedule or maintained a reasonable expectation of ongoing work.  If the employees are long-term casual employees, their employers could claim for the jobkeeper payment for them. 

A pattern or roster of hours may be a strong indication of regular and systematic employment. It is not necessary to have worked the same days and hours over each pay period.

An individual may have been employed on a regular and systematic basis where there was a pattern of work with hours regularly offered and accepted.

Relevant factors which may indicate that an individual was not employed on a regular and systematic basis include:

• the employer was unable to offer suitable work to the individual for substantial periods of time;

• the individual made themselves unavailable for work over a substantial period of time;

• the individual was only offered, and/or only accepted, work irregularly or occasionally.

Whether casual employment is on a “regular and systematic basis” depends on the circumstances of each case. 

This article is based on Fair Work for types of employees and ATO’s guidance for Jobkeeper payment related topics. It is for informational purposes only and does not form part of our advice. Please contact our team if you need any assistance. 

Claire Chang, 0497 131 419, claire.chang@changadvisory.com.au

Michelle Cui, 0433 539 870, michelle.cui@changadvisory.com.au