Stabilising rosters: casual conversion, compliance risk, and building a workforce that stays

Tourism and hospitality in North Queensland sits at the intersection of seasonality, high turnover and thin margins. From an IR perspective, the risk is rarely just “wages are going up”. The bigger risk is operational: inconsistent hours, casual-heavy workforces, compliance mistakes under pressure, and disputes that start as rostering frustration but end up as formal complaints.

Key themes for October:

• Casualisation and conversion: where most employees are casual, conversion requests and roster stability become a frontline issue.

• Underpayment risk: high turnover and complex penalty structures are a known risk area. Errors are easy to make and costly to fix.

• Attraction and retention: tourism competes with industries offering more predictable hours, higher pay, and clearer progression.

Practical focus this month

• Confirm your casual conversion process is operationalised (not just “policy on a shelf”).

• Audit your time-and-wages system for weekends, public holidays, split shifts and allowances.

• Set a “roster stability” target and measure it (hours guaranteed vs hours worked).

• Train supervisors on managing refusals of extra shifts without turning it into a dispute.

Data snapshot (selected)

• Accommodation and food services workforce profile (Australia): 981,100 employed; 61% part‑time; median weekly earnings $1,300 (all industries median weekly earnings $1,741).

• National casual employment snapshot (Aug 2025): 2.4 million employees considered their job casual (19% of employees).

• Most casualised industry (Aug 2025): accommodation and food services, with 58% of employees casual in their main job.

• Selected-year trend in casual share (persons): 22.3% (2014) to 19.5% (2025).

• National minimum wage (from 1 July 2025): $24.95/hour and $948/week.

• Right to disconnect: small business commencement date 26 August 2025 (Fair Work Ombudsman guidance).