The Fair Work Commission ruling regarding overtime entitlements and penalty rates for casual employees could cause some headaches in the coming weeks, Fruit Growers Tasmania chief executive Stuart Burgess said.

"It will have a big impact for our industry," Mr Burgess said.

"It's not a surprise to us - we knew it had been under consideration for some time, but the timing of it and the speed it needs to be implemented could be a problem for some businesses."

By the time the new award is implemented from the first full pay period on or after April 15, most apple growers will be nearing the end of their picking season.

"But the more than 12 hours in a day condition could cause potential issues," he said.

Under the new award casual horticulture workers will receive overtime if they work more than 304 hours over eight weeks and penalty rates for working outside their ordinary hours.

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The biggest issues for Tasmanian growers will be the inability to give extra work outside ordinary hours to those staff who want it, which then means the need to hire more staff to work shorter shifts.

"They will need to have more people working 38 hours or less. There were a lot of growers on record [in 2017] that had to leave fruit on trees due to not having sufficient labour," he said.

"It will have a flow-on effect to businesses in regional areas. There is significant concern from the Fruit Growers Tasmania membership about managing the upcoming season from September."

"We are concerned for growers who find it hard to get workers as it is."

This situation will also create extra administrative and management costs for growers, Mr Burgess said.

"They will have to have more staff for fewer hours, which is an added cost in management time."