FAQ: Can I Raise a Personal Grievance (PG) if I am on a Casual Contract?

If you are employed on a casual contract, you can still raise a personal grievance (PG). Casual employees have many of the same basic employment rights as permanent employees. Your employer cannot treat you unfairly simply because your agreement describes you as casual.

What is a Personal Grievance?

A personal grievance (PG) is a formal employment claim against a current or former employer. Under the Employment Relations Act 2000, an employee may be able to raise a PG for reasons including:

• unjustified dismissal

• unjustified disadvantage

• discrimination

• sexual or racial harassment

• pressure connected with union membership

• retaliation for exercising certain employment rights.

Unjustified dismissal means your employer ended your employment without a good reason or without following a fair process.

Unjustified disadvantage is when an employer does something unjustified that negatively affects your employment or working conditions. This might include unfairly cutting agreed hours, suspending you without proper grounds or giving you an unjustified warning.

Being unhappy with something at work does not automatically mean you have a PG. The facts must fit one of the legal grounds for a personal grievance. Other problems, such as unpaid wages or holiday pay, may instead involve a claim for money owed or a breach of your employment agreement.

Can a Casual Employee raise a Personal Grievance?

If you are an employee, you remain covered by minimum employment standards and other employment protections while completing accepted work.

Your employer must still pay you correctly, provide required rest and meal breaks, keep proper records, act in good faith and provide a safe workplace. They must not discriminate against or harass you.  If your employer wants to dismiss you during an accepted shift or agreed period of work, they will need a good reason and a fair process. 

Are you genuinely casual?

A genuinely casual arrangement usually has no guaranteed hours and no regular pattern of work. The employer can offer a shift, and the employee can usually accept or decline it. Each accepted period of work may be treated as a separate engagement.

When might a Casual Employee raise a Personal Grievance?

There are a number of different reasons you might need to raise a PG as a casual employee.

Your employer dismisses you during agreed work.

Once you have accepted a shift or agreed period of work, your employer cannot necessarily end it whenever they like.  If you are sent home and dismissed because of alleged misconduct or poor performance, the employer may need to investigate, tell you about the concerns, give you a fair chance to respond and genuinely consider your explanation before deciding what to do.

You may have grounds for an unjustified dismissal PG if there was no proper reason for the decision or the process was unfair.

Your regular shifts suddenly stop

A genuine casual employee may have no right to future offers of work. Simply not receiving another shift will not always be a dismissal.  However, if you had a regular and ongoing pattern of work, removing all your shifts could amount to a dismissal or an unjustified disadvantage. 

Evidence such as rosters, payslips, messages and the length of the arrangement can help show the true nature of your employment.

You are punished for raising a concern

Your employer should not remove your shifts to punish you for asking about your pay, making a complaint, raising a health and safety concern, taking entitled leave or exercising another workplace right.  Depending on the circumstances, this may support a PG or another employment claim.  Timing can be important. 

If your shifts stopped soon after you raised a concern, keep copies of messages and write down what was said.

You experience discrimination or harassment

Casual employees are protected from unlawful discrimination and sexual or racial harassment.  For example, an employer must not stop offering shifts because of a prohibited ground such as your sex, race, disability, age, religious beliefs or family status.

Bullying is not listed as a separate PG ground in the Employment Relations Act. However, an employer’s failure to deal properly with bullying may sometimes form part of an unjustified disadvantage, discrimination or constructive dismissal claim.

Your employer unfairly changes accepted work

If you have already accepted particular shifts, your employer may not be entitled to cancel them without pay or make major changes without considering your employment agreement and the circumstances.  An unfair suspension, reduction of agreed work or disciplinary warning may also amount to an unjustified disadvantage.

What should you do if your shifts stop?

Ask your employer in writing whether you are still employed and why you are no longer being offered work. Do not simply assume you have been dismissed, and do not resign without getting advice. A resignation can make your position harder unless the circumstances amount to constructive dismissal.  Gather copies of:

• your employment agreement and any later changes

• rosters and timesheets

• payslips showing your pattern of work

• texts or emails offering shifts

• messages about why shifts were reduced or stopped

• complaints, warnings and meeting notes.

A clear timeline can help establish whether your work was truly casual and whether your employer acted fairly.

Casual employment cases often turn on small details. The wording of the agreement matters, but so do your roster pattern, the employer’s expectations and the reason your shifts ended.  If your shifts have suddenly stopped, you have been dismissed during agreed work, or you believe you are being punished or discriminated against, speak with an employment advocate promptly. 

Mathews Walker can assess what your working relationship really was, explain your options and help you raise a PG before the time limit expires. Get in touch today for a free consultation.

MathewsWalker.co.nz | Employment Problems Solved | 0800 612 355

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