A leading IR law academic says that high casual employment is an entrenched "cultural problem" that needs a solution and that there is likely to be an "explosion" in sham contracting if the Government fails to address last year's High Court rulings in Jamsek and Personnel Contracting.
The Albanese Government's proposed model for national labour hire regulation exposes host employers and labour suppliers to criminal penalties if they "knowingly or recklessly" flout the scheme's rules.
Menulog has followed the lead of DoorDash and Uber in signing a charter with the TWU supporting federally legislated minimum rights and a disputes mechanism for gig delivery workers, but now also supports the new Minns NSW Labor Government's ambition to introduce state-based legislation.
Two veteran truck drivers held by the High Court to be contractors rather than employees have today lost a cross-appeal seeking to establish an entitlement to decades of superannuation on the basis that they fell within the wider meaning of employee in the Super Guarantee Act.
New Zealand Labour Prime Minister Chris Hipkins has deferred public consultation on a new test to determine who is a contractor and who is an employee, as he seeks to concentrate on cost-of-living issues in lead-up to an expected October election.
The FWC has slapped anti-bullying orders on a gated community's body corporate and its treasurer who taunted on-site caretakers about their claim of "living in misery" over the Christmas period because of unpaid invoices.
The Federal Circuit Court is set to dismiss an a bid to determine whether a former Deliveroo food delivery driver is a casual employee or a contractor, following the company's decision last year to cease operations in Australia.
An Albanese Government senator has described Amazon's reliance on labour hire workers and independent contractors as the "wild west," and challenged the company's aspiration to be the "best employer on the planet", in a hearing this week.
In finding a worker with an oral contract an independent contractor, the FWC has affirmed that the principles of Personnel Contracting apply whether the contract is written, oral or some combination and has suggested that the previously-used "multifactorial approach" didn't necessarily cause "chaos", but created "legal and commercial uncertainty".
In findings unlikely to get a good reception in Canberra, the Productivity Commission has come down firmly against the federal government adopting a policy of preferring direct employment in the aged care sector.