Types of Employment

Updated July 2026

The types of employment

Different types of employment have different rights and responsibilities.

Yor employer should be really clear with you about which type of employment you are. If you’re not sure, ask!

The most common types of employment are:

(Permanent) Full-time

Full-time employment usually means working around 38 hours per week, on an ongoing basis.

Full-time workers are entitled to all of the minimum conditions laid out in the National Employment Standards as well as the entitlements included in the award or agreement that covers their workplace.

(Permanent) Part-time

Part-time employment usually means working the same number of hours per week in a regular, predicitible pattern (but less than 38 hours per week), on an ongoing basis.

Part-time workers are entitled to all of the minimum conditions laid out in the National Employment Standards as well as the entitlements included in the award or agreement that covers their workplace – but some entitlements are relative to the number of days or hours worked per week (usually called ‘pro-rata’).

Fixed-term contract

A fixed-term contract usually means temporary work (on a part-time or full-time basis) for a set period of time, i.e. not on an ongoing basis.

It specifically ends on a set date or upon completion of a particular project.

Most fixed-term contracts can’t be for longer than two years. This includes any extensions or renewals.

Casual

Casual workers are not entitled to regular hours or ongoing work.

Casual workers are entitled to some, but not all, of the benefits that permanent workers are entitled to.

Shift work

Shift work usually needs to be done outside of what are considered ordinary business hours and sometimes for longer periods of time than other types of employment.

This means that shifts often fall at inconvenient times.

Shift workers are usually permanent employees. If you are a permanent shift worker, you are entitled to all of the minimum standards laid out in the National Employment Standards (plus an extra week of annual leave), plus those in the award or agreement that covers your workplace.

Labour hire

Labour hire is a form of employment in which an employer hires a worker from a labour hire agency.

Gig workers

Gig workers (also known as ‘regulated’ or ’employee-like’ workers) are engaged by a digital labour platform.

While not classified as ’employees’, gig workers are considered ‘employee-like’. Road transport contractors also fall under this category.

Thanks to union-won changes to the law in 2024, the Fair Work Commission can set terms and conditions for these workers that ensures better protections than previously.

Regulated workers must satisfy at least two of the following conditions to be considered ‘employee-like’:

• Low bargaining power
• Receives remuneration at or below an employee performing comparable work
• A low degree of authority over their work, or 
• Other characteristics as prescribed by regulation 

The new laws also give regulated workers the right to make collective agreements with the firm that engages them, and delegates can now represent regulated workers just as they do other kinds of workers. 

Regulated workers can challenge an ‘unfair deactivation’ or ‘unfair termination’ from a digital labour platform where the primary remedy will be ‘reactivation’. 

Independent contractor

Independent contractors are usually not considered to be employees and are not covered by normal employment law. 

However, if you are an independent contractor, the organisation that engages with you still has a legal responsibility to provide you with a safe working environment and one that is free from discrimination, and you are also covered by laws that protect you against unfair contracting arrangements.

Union-won changes came into operation in 2024 that make a huge difference for workers – including a commonsense definition of ‘employee’ and ‘employer’ that is determined by the ‘real substance, practical reality and true nature of the relationship between the individual and the person’ (instead of the terms of the contract).

Not sure if you’re an independent contractor?

Just because your boss made you get an ABN, doesn’t mean that you are necessarily a genuine independent contractor.

Key factors that suggest you may be an employee and not an independent contractor:

• You do not have control over the way you work (genuine independent contractors can choose how they get a job done, including by hiring other people to whom they sub-contract work)
• You are integrated into your employer’s organisation (genuine independent contractors remain independent, meaning you should not have a boss to whom you report)
• You are required to wear a uniform, or display material that associates you with your employer’s business (genuine independent contractors work for themselves, not the company that engages their services)
• Your employer can suspend or dismiss you as they would an employee

Some employers attempt to use independent contracting to disguise what is actually an employment relationship to avoid employment laws. This illegal practice is known as sham contracting. 

Sham contracting

Sham contracting is illegal, and refers to an employer deliberately misrepresenting their employees as independent contractors.

Employers use sham contracting to avoid fulfilling obligations they have to employees, such as paying minimum wages or providing entitlements like leave and superannuation, and it’s common practice in several industries, especially the gig economy.

Union members fought hard to win changes in 2024 that protect workers from sham contracting arrangements. These stronger laws introduced a range of measures to stop employers from mislabelling employees as ‘independent contractors’ to deny workers their work rights.

These changes mean that if a case ends up in court, the onus is now on the employer to prove they had a ‘reasonable belief’ that an employee was an independent contractor. This replaces previous laws where employers could claim they ‘did not know’ or were ‘not reckless’ as a defence.

Daily and weekly hire

Certain employees can be hired on a daily and weekly basis (either a part-time or full-time).

Apprentices can only be hired on a weekly basis.

Both daily and weekly hire employees are covered by any award or agreement that covers their workplace; the same entitlements as the permanent employees.

Daily hire employees also have additional entitlements: 

• Giving or receiving only one day’s notice when leaving their job 
• Tradespeople are paid for an extra hour at the end of their employment to collect, clean and pack away their tools 
• A follow-the-job loading – a higher rate of pay that compensates for the time they spend not working between jobs

Outworkers

Outworkers work at their home (or somewhere that wouldn’t be considered a normal business premises.

Outworkers are common in the textile, clothing and footwear industries. 

The award or agreement that covers the workplace applies to outworkers as it does to other employees. Awards and agreements often contain specific terms for outworkers.

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