A court has found a husband and wife who performed largely home-based clerical work exclusively for one business before their services were further outsourced were employees rather than contractors because the company had an "undoubted authority to control" the relationship.
A cleaner who invoiced as both a sole trader and a company but claims he was an employee is pursuing Woolworths and three contracting businesses for more than $300,000 in underpaid wages and unpaid overtime, annual leave and superannuation he says he should have been paid between 2004 and 2015.
The Fair Work Ombudsman is investigating whether Uber's engagement of drivers complies with Australian workplace laws, in what might be a test of the legal status of gig economy employment arrangements.
A court has found an employer underpaid a worker by more than $230,000 because it "recklessly disguised the true legal nature" of a 20-year-plus employment relationship by classifying him as an independent contractor.
NSW IRC member Peter Newall has lavished praise on parties to a new industry rates determination that started in bitter dispute and ended in mutual celebration, after progressing in the most "sophisticated" manner he'd seen in more than two decades in IR.
Victoria's Andrews Labor Government will review state laws regulating owner-drivers and forestry contractors, arguing that the decision to scrap the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal has ramped-up pressure on heavy vehicle operators.
The AMWU is seeking to change its rules so it can recruit independent contractors, while it is "re-thinking" how to tailor its membership packages to meet their needs.
The NSW IRC has rejected road transport organisation Natroad's bid to exempt its members from legislation extending minimum rates for owner drivers and contractors throughout NSW, finding the unregistered association lacks standing.
