The Federal Court has criticised the Federal Circuit Court for ignoring a protocol between the two judicial bodies in its decision to transfer a sham contracting matter to it, but will hear the case to avoid a "tennis match".
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 building company and its director who dismissed a construction worker so that they could re-employ her as an independent contractor now face civil penalties and a possible compensation order.
In an unusual postscript to a notorious sham contracting case, an abattoir operator has relied on a Federal Court ruling that it had vigorously opposed to successfully argue that it was the employer of an injured worker, thus avoiding having to pay him more than $150,000 in common law damages.
The Federal Circuit Court has imposed $313,500 in penalties on a company in the Roy Morgan Group for sham contracting, ruling the contraventions were deliberate and directed by senior management.
The Federal Court has found that shifting seasonal workers to a new employer after they'd worked 40 hours a week was a "sham" arrangement to avoid paying overtime.
