Employment Minister Tony Burke will introduce reforms to force employers to offer casual workers who work regular hours a permanent job.

Workers do not have to take up the offer and can remain a casual employee to continue receiving loadings on their hourly rates.

More than 850,000 people will be covered by the reforms, but Mr Burke expects most to remain casual.

He also said the changes would not deter employers from taking on casual workers.

“If an employer has hours that are in fact permanent hours, then there is no loss to the employer in the actual total dollar figure (because) they don’t pay the (casual) loading, they pay leave instead,” he told ABC Radio National on Monday.

“There’s no actual cost to the economy here and, for example, there is a job that isn’t ongoing or it’s a job where the hours are not guaranteed, then in those circumstances it would never have satisfied the test anyway.”

The changes will attempt to close loopholes for employers seeking to avoid paying permanent entitlements to an ongoing workforce.

“Many casuals won’t want a permanent job … but there are casual workers who are trying to support households,” Mr Burke said.

“They’re being used as though they’re permanent workers and the employer is double dipping, taking all the advantages of a reliable workforce and not providing any of the job security in return.”

Businesses will not have to back-pay employees for any entitlements gained by moving to permanent employment.

Independent senator Jacqui Lambie said she supported the proposal as Australia was not attracting the same number of workers it did before the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Businesses are doing it tough trying to find employees still so we need to fix that issue,” she told Sky News.

The government is also moving to enact same job, same pay laws to stop employers paying labour hire cheaper rates than the awards they have negotiated with their workers.

Mr Burke rejected suggestions it would lead to employers having to pay people with decades of experience the same rate as the new kid on the block.

“I can categorically rule that out,” he told Sky News on Sunday.

“What I’m wanting to close is a loophole where an employer has already agreed that for a particular worker with a particular level of experience there should be a minimum rate of pay and then labour hire is used to undercut the rate of pay they just agreed to.”