I work casual. How do my 88 days count?
Short answer
Casual work counts. What matters is how much you worked compared with a full-timer in the same job, not your contract type. The simple way to count it from payslips: 38 hours is a normal full week and counts as 7 days, so fewer hours count less and it takes longer to reach 88 days.
Most Working Holiday makers aren’t on a full-time contract. Farms, cafés and shutdown crews usually hire casually. The good news: casual work counts exactly like any other work. It just has to add up.
The official rule
“…you must complete the same number of normal work days or shifts as a full-time employee in that role and industry would normally work in a 3 month (88 calendar day) or 6 month (179 calendar day) period.”
Home Affairs, specified subclass 417 work
Home Affairs lists the ways you can get there, including “working less than 5 days a week over a period longer than 3 or 6 calendar months” and “multiple short periods of work in any combination of full time, part time or on a piecework rate”.
The official example: Karla
Karla works casually at a market garden, 5 days a fortnight, from 1 August to 30 November:
“During this period of 4 calendar months (in this case 122 calendar days), she has worked half of the usual full time work hours for this employer. This period can therefore count as a total of 2 months (or 61 days).”
Half the hours over 122 days counts as 61 days. That’s the whole method in one sentence: your share of full-time hours, times the calendar days.
Counting from your payslips
Payslips show hours, and payslips are what Immigration looks at, so hours are the easiest way to count. A normal full-time week in Australia is 38 hours (the National Employment Standards maximum for ordinary hours), which gives:
38 hours = 7 days, so one day is about 5.4 hours of work.
| Payslip | Hours | Days it counts as |
|---|---|---|
| Weekly | 38 | 7 |
| Weekly | 30 | 5.5 |
| Weekly | 20 | 3.7 |
| Fortnightly | 76 | 14 |
| Fortnightly | 60 | 11 |
Two limits keep it honest:
- A month can’t count more days than it has. Even with lots of overtime, about 168 hours fills a 31-day month and the rest doesn’t carry over.
- One long day is still one day of work. Home Affairs is clear that 10 hours on one day doesn’t count as two days on its own.
How long it takes at different hours
| Average hours a week | Roughly how long to reach 88 days |
|---|---|
| 38 | about 13 weeks |
| 30 | about 16 weeks |
| 25 | about 19 weeks |
| 20 | about 24 weeks |
If you’re aiming for a deadline, start early. Home Affairs says no exception is made if you run out of time.
What doesn’t count
- Hours outside a listed postcode, or work that isn’t on the list for that postcode and your visa. Check with the postcode checker.
- Unpaid days, including rain days.
- Unpaid work in general (except volunteer bushfire and disaster recovery). Specified work must be paid at the legal rate.
Count your payslips
Add each payslip’s dates and hours to the 88-day calculator. It applies the 38-hour week and the monthly limit for you, and shows the maths.
Questions people also ask
Does casual work count for the second year visa?
Yes. Home Affairs allows full-time, part-time, casual and piecework, or any mix of them, as long as it adds up to the equivalent of full-time work over 88 calendar days (179 for a third visa).
How many hours a week do I need for a week to count as 7 days?
Home Affairs counts days or shifts, not hours. In practice, 38 hours is the standard full-time week in Australia, so a payslip with 38 hours for a week covers the whole week. Many people say 35 hours has been accepted, but there's no official rule saying so.
What if my hours change every week?
Count each payslip on its own. A 38-hour week counts as 7 days, a 25-hour week as about 4.6 days. The calculator does this for every payslip and adds them up.
Do I need a full-time contract for weekends to count?
No. Casual workers who do a normal full week get the weekends too. If you work fewer hours, the weekends count in proportion.
Sources
General information, not immigration advice. Aussie Days is independent and not affiliated with the Australian Government. Always check the official Home Affairs pages before you rely on anything here.
Keep reading
How many hours is 88 days? Is there a 30 or 35-hour rule?
There's no official hours rule for the 88 days, but 38 hours is a full week. That makes 88 days about 478 hours. What the 30 and 35-hour 'rules' really are.
Counting daysDo weekends count for the 88 days?
Yes, weekends count for your 88 days when you work a normal full week. Casual or part-time? They count in proportion. Official rule, examples and sources.
Counting daysI have two jobs at once. How do they count for 88 days?
Working two jobs at the same time adds up your hours, but each calendar day still counts once. How to combine two jobs for your 88 days, with the official rule.