How to Ask the Fair Work Commission for Help with a Casual Employment Dispute

When can you ask the Fair Work Commission for help?

The National Employment Standards include an employee choice pathway under which eligible casual employees can seek to change to full-time or part-time employment. A casual employee can also change status at any time if the employer and employee agree.

This procedure is for the point where there is an actual disagreement about changing employment status and discussions at work have not resolved it. Section 66M of the Fair Work Act 2009 requires the parties to attempt to resolve an employee-choice dispute at the workplace level first. If those discussions do not resolve it, a party can refer the dispute to the Fair Work Commission.

What employee-choice rules may be relevant to the dispute?

A casual employee may give an employee-choice notification if, among the statutory requirements, they believe that their current employment relationship no longer meets the casual employee requirements and they have been employed for at least 6 months, or 12 months if the employer is a small business employer.

The employee cannot give a new notification while a dispute about the employee-choice provisions is already being dealt with under the relevant Fair Work Act dispute provisions. There are also restrictions where, during the previous 6 months, the employer did not accept an earlier employee-choice notification or an employee-choice dispute was resolved under the relevant statutory process.

What must the employer do after receiving a notification?

The employer must consult the employee before responding and must provide a written response within 21 days after receiving the notification. The response must say whether the notification is accepted. If it is not accepted, the employer must give reasons.

Under the Fair Work Act, the permitted grounds for not accepting a notification include that the employee still meets the statutory requirements for being casual, that there are fair and reasonable operational grounds for refusal, or that accepting the notification would cause the employer not to comply with a recruitment or selection process required by Commonwealth, state or territory law.

What should you do before filing Form F10A?

Do not treat Form F10A as the first step in a disagreement. The legislation requires the parties to attempt workplace-level resolution through discussions first. Keep a practical record of what happened, including the employee's written notification, the employer's written response, relevant dates, discussions and any proposal made to resolve the issue.

If the dispute concerns a small business employer and arose before 26 August 2025, the Fair Work Commission specifically directs applicants to check whether a modern award, enterprise agreement, employment contract or another written agreement contains a dispute-resolution procedure that applies. If it does, that procedure must be followed instead of using this application.

What do you need for Form F10A?

Form F10A asks for enough information for the Commission and the respondent to understand the dispute. Prepare:

• your contact details;
• your representative's details, if you have one;
• the other party's details;
• the date and circumstances in which the dispute arose;
• details of relevant offers, requests or employee-choice notifications;
• what you have already done to try to resolve the matter; and
• how you want the dispute resolved.

If the respondent is a business, check its correct legal name rather than relying only on its trading name. The current F10A form notes that an employee may be able to find the employer's legal name on payslips, employment documents or other employment records.

How do you lodge Form F10A?

Complete Form F10A and email it to lodge@fwc.gov.au. The Fair Work Commission says supporting documents should be sent at the same time. You can alternatively send or deliver the application to a Commission office.

The Commission does not publish a standard completion time for this application. After receiving it, the Commission sends a copy of the application and supporting documents to the respondent and their representative, if they have one, and contacts the applicant about what happens next.

What can the Fair Work Commission do?

For a dispute referred under section 66M, the Commission must generally deal with the matter by a means other than arbitration first, unless there are exceptional circumstances. The available approaches include mediation, conciliation, making a recommendation or expressing an opinion.

If the dispute is not resolved that way, section 66MA permits the Commission to arbitrate it. The Commission may make orders it considers appropriate, but an order must be fair and reasonable and cannot be inconsistent with the Fair Work Act or an applicable fair work instrument.

For an employee-choice dispute, possible orders expressly identified in the Act include an order that the employee continue to be treated as a casual employee or an order that the employee be treated as a full-time or part-time employee. If the latter order is made, the change can take effect from the first day of the employee's first full pay period starting after the order, or a later day the Commission considers appropriate.

Can your employer cut your hours or dismiss you because of this process?

The Fair Work Act says an employer must not reduce or vary an employee's hours, change their pattern of work or terminate their employment in order to avoid a right or obligation under the casual employment provisions. Participating in a dispute under sections 66M and 66MA is also identified as a workplace right for general protections purposes.

If employment has already been terminated and the issue is alleged adverse action for exercising a workplace right, that can involve a different Fair Work Commission process. See the separate Helpydo guide on general protections after dismissal for a prohibited reason. An unfair dismissal claim is another distinct process; where relevant, see applying for unfair dismissal after losing your job.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Do not skip workplace discussions. The statutory process requires an attempt to resolve the dispute at workplace level first.
• Do not use Form F10A simply to make an initial employee-choice notification to your employer. It is for a dispute that has not been resolved.
• Do not omit the relevant employee notification, employer response or other supporting documents if you have them.
• Do not assume that regular hours automatically determine the outcome. The statutory casual employee definition and the employee's current employment relationship are relevant.
• Do not confuse the employer's 21-day response deadline to an employee-choice notification with a Fair Work Commission processing time. The Commission does not publish a standard F10A processing period.

What happens after you apply?

The Fair Work Commission serves the application and supporting documents on the respondent and any representative identified for them. It then contacts the applicant about the next procedural step. The dispute may proceed through mediation, conciliation or another non-arbitration method and, if it remains unresolved, may ultimately be determined by a Commission Member through arbitration.