Working
and the law
Choose a topic
- Finding a job
- What do I need to know before starting a new job?
- Have you been treated unfairly at work?
- Can I go from being a casual to permanent worker?
- What happens if I get injured at work?
- Using the Fair Work Ombudsman Website
- What happens if my employer contacts me outside of my work hours?
- What is a union?
- This is general information only.
- It is not intended to give individual legal advice.
- Each person should seek independent legal advice relating to their special circumstances.
- We do not accept responsibility for any loss or damage caused to anyone who relies on the information in this info sheet.
Finding a job
Looking for a job can be intimidating but the important thing is to put your best foot forward, keep going if you have setbacks, and ask for help if you need it.
You can find jobs to apply for on websites like Seek, Indeed and EthicalJobs or on social media like TikTok, getahead and Facebook. You can also find jobs with the Queensland government on smartjobs.qld.gov.au. You might even see posters about jobs in shop windows.
If you see jobs posted on socials, it’s worth checking that the employer is legitimate by looking up their website and seeing if there any reviews of that business or workplace.
Many jobs are never advertised, so it’s worth asking people you know about opportunities. You can also speak to your school careers advisor as they can give you ideas and advice, and often have connections to find employment or apprenticeship opportunities.
There are also employment services which work in particular communities, such as with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth or with people from a refugee or asylum seeker backgrounds, to assist with finding employment. Ask around or look online to see what services are available in your community.
If there is a specific place you’d like to work, you can ask them if they have any job openings or if they’ll keep your resume for future openings. Not sure where to start? Think about your skills and interests and speak to someone you trust to help you target your search.
What is a resume?
A resume is a document which provides a personal summary of your skills, experiences and achievements to help an employer consider why you might be good fit for a job.
A resume usually includes:
- Your contact information – name, phone number and email address
- Summary – a sentence or two explaining the kind of job you’re looking for and why you’re a great candidate
- Experience – this shows any work you have done, part time jobs, internships, volunteering. If you haven’t done any work yet you might include school projects, babysitting or some details abut your interests and hobbies to show your character
and skills. - Education – this section tells employers where you go to school and what you have learned. You can also list any other special classes or certificates you have earned.
- Skills – you can include a summary of things you are good at like working with computers or speaking different languages. This will be helpful if you have special skills that are relevant to the job you are applying for.
There are some great resume templates on Word, Canva and other websites to help you write your resume.
WHERE TO GET HELP:
YFS Legal
Phone: (07) 3826 1599
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.yfs.org.au/yfs-legal
What do I need to know before starting a new job?
You have legal rights which protect you while you’re working.
Getting a Tax File Number
A tax file number (TFN) is a unique number that forms part of your identity. It helps your employer know how much tax and superannuation they should pay for you. Your TFN doesn’t change and you keep it for life, even if you change jobs, change your name, or move house.
It is free to get a TFN. To get a TFN, fill out a TFN application on the Australian Taxation Office website. Make sure you keep it safe or keep a digital record of it so you can give it to your new boss whenever you start a new job.
What is superannuation?
Superannuation is money your boss puts into a separate account for you. This account is called a super fund. This money is saved up during your working years and will be for you to live off when you retire. Your employer has to pay superannuation if you are over 18, or if you are under 18 but work more than 30 hours a week.
When you start a new job, your company might give you a form asking whether you want to “nominate a super fund” or use the companies “default super fund.” Most companies will create a super fund account for all employees with a super fund company that they choose. If you’ve never had a super account before, it can be simple to use the default super fund used by your company.
Your boss will give you the details for your super fund. When you change jobs in the future, you can ask your next boss to pay your superannuation into your existing super fund from your last job.
Your Rights at work and the Law
You have legal rights which protect you while you’re working.
These might be written in your employment contract, something called a modern award, an enterprise agreement, or just general workplace laws.
Your employment contract is an agreement between you and your boss which talks about things like:
- What your job is
- How much money you will make
- What you’re supposed to do at work
- When you’ll be working, and more.
If you do not have an employment contract, you may be covered by
something called a modern award. This is a set of rules for people
working in similar jobs. It talks about things like:
- The least amount of money you can be paid
- Extra pay for working weekends or holidays
- Allowances
- How long you can work each day
- Other work conditions.
There are different modern awards for different kinds of jobs. For example, there’s a special set of rules just for restaurant workers.
WHERE TO GET HELP:
YFS Legal
Phone: (07) 3826 1599
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.yfs.org.au/yfs-legal
Have you been treated unfairly at work?
If you have been treated badly at work because of something like your race, your gender identity or sexuality, your marriage status, your age or a disability this may be unlawful discrimination.
Reasonable adjustments if you have a disability
If you have a disability you may need to ask your employer to provide adjustments for you at work so that you can do the job.
To ask for an adjustment you will need to tell your employer about your disability and provide them with medical evidence, like a letter from your regular doctor, which explains why the adjustment is needed.
So long as the adjustment you are seeking is reasonable and required, and that you are still able to perform the key tasks in the job, your employer should provide it to you.
Bullying at work
Bullying means someone repeatedly treats you badly in a way that’s not fair and could make you feel unsafe or unhappy. For example, if people spread rumours about you, leave you out, shout at you, threatens you, expect you to do way more work than others in the same job, or play mean jokes on you, that’s bullying.
Adverse action
Adverse Action is a harmful action a person takes or threatens to take because of a part of your identity such as race, sexual orientation or disability. Adverse action may also include harmful action at your job because you have exercised a workplace right such as asking about your pay or leave entitlements.
Examples include, if your boss fires you or treats you unfairly – such as reducing your hours or giving you worse treatment than other workers – just because of who you are. An unfair dismissal application must be lodged with the Fair Work Commission within 21 days after the dismissal takes effect.
Sexual harassment
Sexual Harassment is unlawful, and your boss has to do something about it if it happens.
Sexual harassment includes but is not limited to someone making unwanted sexual advances towards you, asking you for sexual favours, physically touching you, asking or making comments about your private life or your body, making sexually suggestive comments and jokes or doing things of a sexual nature you don’t like.
It doesn’t matter if it happens just once, and it doesn’t matter if the person harassing you didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable, embarrassed, or scared.
WHERE TO GET HELP:
YFS Legal
Phone: (07) 3826 1599
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.yfs.org.au/yfs-legal
Can I go from being a casual to permanent worker?
If you want to go from being a casual employee to being a full time or part time worker this is called casual conversion.
If you want to go from being a casual employee to being a full time or part time worker this is called casual conversion.
Your boss is required to offer you casual conversion if:
- You’ve been working there for at least 12 months
- For the past 6 months, you’ve been working a regular schedule of hours and
- You can keep working those hours without any big changes if you become a full-time or part-time worker.
However, if your boss is a ‘small business employer’ with less than 15 employees (not including casual workers, unless they work regular hours), they are not required to offer you casual conversion. You can still ask to have this conversation after you’ve worked for 12 months, but your boss won’t have to say yes if it’s a small business.
If you’re eligible for casual conversion, your boss must offer it to you within 21 days of your 12-month work anniversary. If they don’t, they have to explain why in writing.
If you decline their offer, you can ask again every 6 months. If you work for a small business and ask for casual conversion, your employer has 21 days to respond in writing. If they do not offer you a permanent position they must tell you why not. Reasons for this may include:
- Your position won’t exist
- Your hours of work will significantly reduce or
- Your days or times of work will significantly change, and that can’t be accommodated within your available days or times for work.
If your employer refuses to offer you casual conversion after you’ve asked for it, you can dispute this with the Fair Work Commission if you think their refusal is not justified.
If you are a part of a union, you can ask your union representative for advice on next steps and they may be able to give you help to deal with the issue.
If you are not part of a union, you can also contact organisations such as YFS Legal and Youth Law Australia for confidential legal advice before going to the Fair Work Commission.
If you’re offered a permanent full-time or part-time job, you must reply within 21 days. If you don’t, your boss might think you declined.
Once you accept, your boss should talk to you about whether you’ll be full-time or part-time, your new hours, and when you’ll start. They need to confirm this in writing within 21 days of your acceptance.
Your boss can’t cut your hours or fire you to avoid accepting casual conversion.
If you have a disagreement with your boss about this, you can get help from the Fair Work Commission.
WHERE TO GET HELP:
YFS Legal
Phone: (07) 3826 1599
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.yfs.org.au/yfs-legal
What happens if I get injured at work?
Law protects your health, safety and well-being at work.
When you’re working you must:
- Be careful about your own health and safety
- Look out for others’ health and safety too
- Follow any safety instructions your employer gives you and
- Follow all the safety rules your employer has in place.
You have the right to work in a safe place. This means you should have safe equipment and training on how to work safely.
Workers’ compensation
If you’re hurt at work, may be able to receive money from your employer’s insurance to help with the injury. This is called ‘workers’ compensation’.
Injuries can be physical or psychological. With workers’ compensation, you can get money to cover lost wages and medical expenses. Even if you’re an unpaid intern, volunteer or apprentice you might still be eligible.
Note – YFS cannot give advice on these types of issues, which are also known as ‘personal injury.’ However, if you experience an injury at work, you get more information from the WorkSafe Queensland website.
WHERE TO GET HELP:
YFS Legal
Phone: (07) 3826 1599
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.yfs.org.au/yfs-legal
Using the Fair Work Ombudsman Website
Checking Entitlements and Payrates
It is important to make sure you are being paid correctly and you are receiving your entitlements as set out by the law.
The Fair Work Ombudsman’s website has a Pay and Conditions Tool (PACT) which will help you know which industry award applies to your job so you can find out what you should be getting paid.
If you find that you are not being paid correctly by your employer, you can take the following steps:
- First, you should bring this issue up to your employer to see if this matter can be resolved internally or is occurring by mistake. For more information on how best to do this, please refer to Fair Work Ombudsman.
- If you have already raised this issue with your employer and they still refuse to pay you and you are a union member, you should contact your union representative for expertise and advice. If you are not part of a union, you can also contact organisations such as YFS Legal and Youth Law Australia for confidential legal advice before bringing a claim against your employer.
- From here, you can make a complaint to the Fair Work Ombudsman for unpaid wages.
WHERE TO GET HELP:
YFS Legal
Phone: (07) 3826 1599
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.yfs.org.au/yfs-legal
What happens if my employer contacts me outside of my work hours?
Right to Disconnect
It is important you have a healthy work-life balance. The law protects your right to switch off after work – this is called the ‘right to disconnect.’
If your boss contacts you outside of your work hours, you do not have to respond until you are working again.
Contact from your boss or workplace can include the following:
- Telephone calls
- Text messages
- Emails
- Messaging services such as WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, Zoom etc.
As long as your choice not to reply to your boss is reasonable,
they cannot discipline or punish you.
Note: If you are a casual or shift worker and your boss contacts you asking to change your start time or they are asking you to work an extra shift, this is reasonable, and you should respond to your boss as soon as you can.
The right to disconnect protects employees of organisations which have 15 or more employees. However, employees of small businesses (with less than 15 employees) will have the right from 26 August 2025.
If you need help deciding if your boss contacting you outside of work hours is reasonable, please contact YFS Legal.
If an issue regarding the right to disconnect cannot be resolved within a workplace, the Fair Work Commission can become involved to make a decision about the dispute, for example they can order a workplace to stop contacting an employee outside of their normal working hours.
WHERE TO GET HELP:
YFS Legal
Phone: (07) 3826 1599
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.yfs.org.au/yfs-legal
What is a union?
A union is an organisation made up of people who all work in similar industries or do similar types of jobs. Unions are separate to the company and protect workers.
Employees who join unions are called union members. Unions can give members independent advice about their rights at work and help when they have an issue at work like being bullied or underpaid. Unions also negotiate on behalf of workers for better working conditions and pay.
When you start a job, you might be given information about joining the union from a coworker or the company. If no one gives you information, you can find what union will cover your job through searching online.
Everybody has the right to join a union, but it’s not compulsory.
If you decide to join a union, you will pay a regular fee to the union called “union dues.” This money pays the people who work at the union helping members with their workplace problems.
WHERE TO GET HELP:
YFS Legal
Phone: (07) 3826 1599
Email: [email protected]
Website: https://www.yfs.org.au/yfs-legal
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YFS Legal gratefully acknowledges the collaboration with Wotton Kearney and Youthlaw in developing these factsheets and appreciates their expertise and support
in creating valuable legal resources for the community.
