CASUAL WORKER

An employee who works occasionally under a short-term contract, whose duration is to be determined on an as-needed basis.

"Of the four types of temporary workers, seasonal workers earn 28% less than their permanent counterparts, casual workers 24% less and those using employment agencies 40% less."
(Statistics Canada, Study: Earnings of temporary versus permanent employees, 2005, visited 2009-04-05)

"Casual workers – those who work less than 25 days [per year] – account for 45 percent of the agricultural labor force, although they do only 5 percent of the work."
(Anglim, C.T., Labour, Employment and the Law, A Dictionary, Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1997)

The casual worker is usually hired to fulfil a temporary employment contract, and generally has limited entitlement to benefits and little or no employment security. The main characteristic of this type of employment is the absence of a stable, continuing relationship with an employer, which could lead to these workers not being considered ‘employees.' Casual workers differ from other non-permanent workers in that they often have fewer rights and less protection. They are not attached to a company, do not accumulate seniority, are usually unskilled and move with the fluctuating demands of the labour market.
(adapted from the European Industrial Relations Dictionary [Eurofound], Casual worker, 2007, visited 2009-04-05)