The Federal Court will examine the multi-level marketing operations of an international networking business after the Federal Circuit Court ruled that a sham contracting case launched by the FWO was complex and lengthy enough to go to a higher authority.
The Federal Circuit Court has drawn a link between s-xual assault laws and the Fair Work Act's sham contracting prohibitions in finding that a floor repairing business was not "reckless" as to whether five of its independent contractors were actually employees.
A Fair Work Commission full bench majority has found that an employee of The Body Shop did not breach her employment contract by working as an independent contractor for another retailer, and was unfairly dismissed when she refused to terminate the engagement.
The number of casual workers in Australia has climbed past the 2.2 million mark but the proportion of the workforce that is casual has steadied and another form of non-standard employment - independent contracting - has fallen over the last five years, according to the latest ABS data.
