About the event

This seminar is being delivered via webinar.

The highly anticipated decisions of Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining And Energy Union & Anor v Personnel Contracting Pty Ltd [2022] HCA 1 (Personnel Contracting) and ZG Operations & Anor V Jamsek & Ors [2022] HCA 2 (Jamsek) were handed down by the High Court of Australia on 9 February 2022.
The implications of the decisions, seemingly affirming the primacy of contractual terms in determining employment relationships, have been described as “extremely concerning, perhaps even frightening” by leading academic Professor Andrew Stewart and as likely to lead to an increase in the number of workers engaged as independent contractors.
This session, by leading workplace relations barrister John Blackburn SC, who represented Personnel Contracting in the High Court, will address questions arising from the two decisions:

• Is it now as simple as saying the contract is king in deciding whether a worker is an employee or independent contractor?
• Would the result in Personnel Contracting have been different with a differently worded contract – for example, if the contract had clearly denied any right of control?
• Is the Odco model dead or is it simply a matter of getting the contract right?
• Does it matter whether a worker has a business of their own?
• Are the traditional indicia still relevant?
• Do the rules change if the contract is not comprehensive or wholly in writing?
• What do the decisions mean for you and your clients?

Level: General

This session is part off the CPD Day for Country Practitioners. City Lawyers are welcome to join the session as a webinar.