IR academics say the High Court's "revolutionary" approach in Rossato signals an intention to rewrite the rules for determining employment status, with potentially dire consequences for gig workers and others seeking to challenge their characterisation.
Employers once said to be facing up to $38 billion in casuals' backpay claims have welcomed today's High Court confirmation that contracts are decisive in determining employment types, while workers' representatives have come out swinging.
The High Court has today unanimously upheld labour hire company Workpac's challenge to a finding that coal mineworker Robert Rossato was entitled to paid leave while engaged as a casual on consecutive contracts for almost four years.
The High Court will next Wednesday hand down its much-anticipated judgment in labour hire company Workpac's challenge to a finding that coal mineworker Robert Rossato had an entitlement to paid leave while engaged as a casual on consecutive contracts for almost four years.
A WA TAFE worker among the first out of the blocks to test the Fair Work Act's new casual conversion provisions in the FWC has lost her bid to have the tribunal deal with her permanency dispute because she does not work for a national system employer.
A FWC full bench has upheld a finding that a Toll health and safety representative was not entitled to be paid for attending the disciplinary meetings of another HSR, or grabbing a coffee after, and was after a "commendable" process rightfully sacked for falsifying his timesheets.
A five-day hiatus between resigning from a fixed-term position and re-starting the same job on a casual basis did not break the minimum employment period necessary for a worker to challenge her dismissal, the FWC has found.
The MUA says a landmark four-year agreement deal at the Port of Melbourne's "robo-terminal" will lead to conversion of 75% of casual jobs to permanent roles and introduce new protections against outsourcing and contracting out.
A presidential FWC member has clarified the circumstances under which an employee can be said to have resigned, finding that a casual pool cleaner's repeated statement of intent did not qualify.
