Full-time, part-time and casual: hours and entitlements compared
Three employment types, one number that defines the boundary, and a cost comparison that rarely lands where people expect. Here is how the hours actually work — and where classifying someone wrongly gets expensive.
Employment type turns on the substance of the arrangement, not the label, and awards add their own rules. It does not constitute legal, HR, or professional advice and should not be relied on as a substitute for advice specific to your business, workforce, or circumstances.
The three types at a glance
| Full time | Part time | Casual | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ordinary hours | 38 a week, averaged | Fewer than 38, agreed pattern | No agreed pattern |
| Advance commitment | Ongoing | Ongoing | None |
| Paid annual leave | 4 weeks | 4 weeks pro rata | None |
| Paid personal leave | 10 days | 10 days pro rata | None |
| Casual loading | No | No | Usually 25% |
| Notice of termination | Yes | Yes | Generally not |
How many hours is full time?
38 ordinary hours a week, under the National Employment Standards. The word doing the work is averaged: awards and agreements can spread those hours over a cycle, so 76 hours a fortnight or 152 over four weeks are equally full time, and a 40-hour week followed by a 36-hour week averages out.
Reasonable additional hours can be required beyond the 38, but they sit on top — they do not redefine the ordinary-hours figure, and under most awards they attract overtime. Full definition at full-time employee.
How many hours is part time?
Fewer than 38 ordinary hours a week — but the hours are not what makes someone part time. The defining feature is a regular, agreed pattern, normally recorded in writing at the start: which days, which hours, and how changes get made.
There is no statutory floor on part-time hours. Individual awards frequently set a minimum engagement per shift — commonly three hours in retail and hospitality — which is a different rule about the length of a single shift, not about weekly hours. See part-time employee.
The rule managers trip over: a part-timer asked to work beyond their agreed pattern can be in overtime well before they reach 38 hours. "They're only on 25 hours, so there's room" is wrong under most awards — the comparison is against their agreement, not against full-time hours.
Casual vs part-time: the comparison that matters
The legal difference is the firm advance commitment. A part-timer has agreed ongoing hours; a casual does not, can decline shifts, and receives a casual loading — usually 25% — in place of paid leave.
The cost comparison is where intuition fails. The loading roughly prices the leave a casual does not accrue, so per hour actually worked the two are closer than the headline rates suggest — and casuals attract higher penalty rates in most awards, which widens the gap again on weekends. Casual wins on genuinely variable demand, because you pay only for hours you need. On a stable roster you are buying flexibility you never use.
Model it rather than assuming: the casual vs part-time cost calculator runs both against your own roster, and the comparison template does the same in a spreadsheet.
Minimum engagement periods
Most awards set a minimum number of hours you must pay for once someone attends — commonly three hours, sometimes two for specific groups such as students working after school. It is set by the award, not by the NES, so check the one that covers you in the award pay guides.
The consequence is that a 90-minute shift can cost three hours of pay. Rosters built without this in mind quietly leak wage cost, which is a scheduling problem rather than a legal one — but you pay for it either way.
Changing between types
Moving someone between types is an agreed change, recorded in writing, and it alters entitlements from that point rather than retrospectively. The one pathway that is not purely by agreement is casual conversion: an employee can notify you they believe they no longer meet the casual definition, and you must respond within the prescribed period, either accepting or refusing on the specified grounds. See how to handle casual conversion.
Common mistakes
- Calling someone casual when their roster is fixed. A regular, predictable pattern points to part time, and the back-pay exposure accrues silently.
- Assuming under 38 hours means no overtime. A part-timer beyond their agreed hours can be in overtime much earlier.
- Never putting the agreed pattern in writing. Without it you cannot show what "beyond agreed hours" even means.
- Comparing bare hourly rates. The loading prices leave; compare cost per hour actually worked.
- Forgetting minimum engagement. A short shift can still cost three hours.
- Treating pro rata as optional. Part-timers accrue the full NES entitlements proportionally, not at your discretion.
Classification decides cost — see it before you roster
Whether casual or part-time is cheaper depends entirely on the roster you actually run. RosterElf costs shifts with award rates, loadings and penalties applied as you build the roster, so the comparison is in front of you at the point you make the decision rather than after the pay run.
Start free trialGeneral information only, not legal advice. Employment type turns on the substance of the arrangement rather than the label, and awards add their own rules on minimum engagement and overtime. Check the National Employment Standards and the award that covers you.
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Employment types and hours FAQ
- A full-time employee works an average of 38 ordinary hours a week under the National Employment Standards. "Average" matters: an award or agreement can arrange those hours over a cycle — 76 over a fortnight, 152 over four weeks — so a week of 40 followed by a week of 36 is still full time. Reasonable additional hours can be required on top, but they are additional to the 38, not part of it. More in full-time hours.
- Anything less than 38 ordinary hours a week, on a regular, agreed pattern. There is no statutory minimum number of hours that makes someone part time — the defining feature is not the quantity but the agreement: a part-time employee has reasonably predictable hours agreed in writing at the start, and they accrue leave pro rata. Individual awards often set a minimum number of hours per shift, which is a different thing. See part-time hours.
- Part time. The line is 38 ordinary hours a week averaged over the applicable cycle, so 30 hours is part time regardless of how it feels day to day. This matters practically: at 30 hours the employee accrues four weeks of annual leave pro rata (about 3.16 weeks), and any hours beyond their agreed pattern may attract overtime under the award even though they are still under 38.