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The Fair Work Commission's landmark casual conversion ruling has implications for all organisations that engage casual labour, and its circumstances would likely have "tripped up" many employers, according to a lawyer.

Importantly, the case shows the Fair Work Act's 'employee choice' conversion stream applies to arrangements that are more akin to fixed-term rather than permanent employment, says McCabes Lawyers principal, Melini Pillay.

The dispute, determined this week, involved a Macquarie University employee who sought to convert from casual to permanent employment. He relied on the fact he'd worked in a lecturing role in both semesters of 2025, and had been allocated the same subject in 2026.

Commissioner Stephen Crawford found the employment relationship didn't satisfy the meaning of 'casual' in the Act (set out in s15A) because the employee's teaching work was required on an ongoing basis. He therefore ordered the employer to convert the employee to permanent part-time (0.1 FTE averaged over 12 months), guaranteeing him about 3.5 hours per week, and entitling him to additional payments for work beyond those hours...