Casual shifts stopped — am I still employed, and what are my rights?

If you work casually and your employer simply stops rostering you, the legal position sits in an unusual grey zone. Casual employment doesn't guarantee ongoing work — each shift is treated, in theory, as a stand-alone engagement. So an employer who quietly stops offering shifts often takes the view that they haven't dismissed you at all — they've just decided not to offer the next one.

The Fair Work Commission has consistently rejected this view for casuals who were employed on a regular and systematic basis. If your pattern of work has been consistent enough that you had a reasonable expectation of continuing employment, then an employer who cuts you off without explanation may be treated as having dismissed you for unfair-dismissal purposes — even if they never used the word.

The test isn't a fixed number of hours or shifts. The Fair Work Commission looks at the totality of the engagement. Indicators in your favour include:

• You've been engaged for six months or more (twelve months if the employer is a small business with fewer than 15 employees).
• Your hours have been broadly consistent — same days, similar shifts, predictable income.
• You've routinely accepted shifts when offered, and the employer has expected you to.
• You're on the published roster as a matter of course, not just called in to fill last-minute gaps.

If most of those describe your situation and your shifts have stopped without warning or explanation, you may have grounds to lodge an unfair-dismissal application.

If you decide to pursue it, the deadline matters. You have 21 calendar days from the date of the dismissal to lodge an application with the Fair Work Commission. For casuals where there's no formal termination letter, the FWC has generally treated the "dismissal date" as the date you reasonably realised the work wasn't coming back — which can be the date of the last shift, or the date of an unanswered roster query.

Don't wait. Twenty-one days passes quickly, and the FWC rarely grants extensions. The lodgement fee is currently $87.20, halved with a concession card. You can lodge online.

The cleanest first step is also the most useful evidence. Send a short, polite written message — email or SMS, not just a verbal conversation — that says something like:

"Hi [Manager], I haven't been rostered for the last few weeks. Could you let me know whether there are upcoming shifts available, or whether my employment has ended?"

This does three things. It gives the employer a chance to clarify (sometimes the answer is genuinely "we're quiet, there'll be more in two weeks"). It creates a timestamped record. And if the employer doesn't answer, or answers evasively, you have written evidence of the moment you reasonably understood that your employment was over.

Casuals don't accrue annual leave or paid personal leave, so there's nothing to pay out on those. But you are entitled to:

• Unpaid superannuation for every shift worked — Fair Work and the ATO can recover this years after the event. Check your super statements against your payslips.
• Any unpaid wages, including penalty rates and overtime if you worked weekend or evening shifts.
• Long service leave if you've been continuously engaged for the threshold in your state (typically seven to ten years), even as a casual.

Use the Underpaid Check to test whether your rates match the relevant Modern Award, and the Wage Theft Calculator if you suspect a shortfall.

Unfair dismissal isn't the only path. You can also:

• Lodge a general protections claim with the FWC if you believe the shifts stopped because you raised a complaint, took leave, or otherwise exercised a workplace right. The deadline is also 21 days for dismissal claims; 6 years for non-dismissal claims.
• Call the Fair Work Ombudsman (13 13 94) for free advice. They can investigate underpayments and unpaid super, and they take complaints about employers acting on protected grounds.
• Apply for casual conversion if you're still on the books and have been regular and systematic for at least 12 months — though this only helps if there's still an ongoing engagement.

1. Send a written message asking whether your employment has ended.
2. If shifts have actually stopped without a valid reason and you were a regular casual, calendar the 21-day deadline now.
3. Pull your last 6-12 months of payslips and super statements — check for shortfalls.
4. Run your rate through our underpayment check.
5. If you want to talk it through before lodging, the FairWork Mate AI advisor can answer follow-ups for free.