Occasionally events may occur that results in a club cancelling a casual employees shift or sending them home early. If doing so however it is important that a club understands and complies with the rules surrounding this and is aware if any payment will still be applicable.

Under the Registered and Licensed Clubs Award 2020 (Clubs Award) whilst there are clear provisions outlining notice needed to change a part-time or full-times roster there is nothing stated for casuals or any minimum notice required to cancel a shift.

Whilst there is no specified time limit required to cancel a casuals shift under the Clubs Award, it is important to firstly be aware that under clause 11.5 of the Clubs Award casual employees are entitled to a minimum payment on each occasion they are required to attend work.

For most casual employees this is 2 hours besides fitness instructors or bingo callers (who have a 1 and 3 hour minimum respectively).

This means that if a club wishes to send a casual home early after they have already commenced and attended work then they will have to be paid for at least the minimum engagement. For example, if a casual bar attendant is sent home early after only being at work for 1 hour, they would have to still receive at least 2 hours pay.

Additionally, should too short a period of notice be given prior to a casuals rostered start time meaning they have already left for work and/or have reasonably not been able to be aware of the cancellation before arriving then there is strong arguments to be made that they would be entitled to the minimum payment as they have reasonably taken steps to “attended” work.

Clubs must also consider if their casual’s contract or a policy specifies the need to give a certain amount of notice of any shift cancellation and if so be compliant with this.

Regardless of the rules it is also generally good practice to give casuals reasonable notice of any shift cancellation and be able to provide good reasonings for doing so. This ensures the cancellation of the shift has the least amount of negative impact as well as promoting transparency and lessening the risks of disputes arising.