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Recently, the concept of entrepreneurship has attracted increased attention in the Australian case law on employment status. Some judges have adopted an 'entrepreneurship approach' in determining whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor, while others have rejected this approach. Although the concept of entrepreneurship has appeared increasingly frequently in the cases, it remains an under-theorised concept. This article critically evaluates the concept from a normative worker-protective perspective. It assesses the entrepreneurship approach by reference to theories of power and vulnerability in the employment relationship, and critically examines cases from the United States of America ('US') that illustrate the nature and practical operation of the entrepreneurship approach. The article argues that an entrepreneurship approach that operates in a manner similar to the 'ABC' test in the US warrants consideration by those seeking to revitalise the tests for employment status in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article evaluates the employment standards and classification of the gig economy in the countries of France, the U.S., Australia and the United Kingdom, particularly how their courts ruled on the treatment of Uber drivers as independent contractors, workers or employees. The analysis examines whether human dignity was considered in legislative and judicial decision-making regarding worker classification.

• Reports on a qualitative investigation into the experience of heat stress for outdoor workers. • Compares workers employed on a continuing basis with those employed on a piecework or casual basis. • Finds similar experiences but differing outcomes in terms of the capacity to mitigate heat stress, especially through work scheduling. • Shows how these differences are conditioned in part by differing modes of employment. Exposure to high heat and humidity in the workplace is a critical health and safety issue. In Australia, where heat waves are occurring with more frequency and intensity the risks posed by occupational heat exposure have been acknowledged by employer groups, trade unions, and statutory government agencies. In this study we investigate the employment context in which heat stress is experienced, and whether the mode of employment affects the capacity to manage it. We examine the experience of workplace heat exposure for two groups of affected outdoor workers: contracted pieceworkers in bicycle delivery and permanently employed municipal workers in parks and road maintenance. Data was collected in Sydney during the summer of 2019 via surveys and in-person interviews with the two sets of workers. Research findings reflect the well-established nexus between outside temperature, humidity and work effort in producing heat stress. The comparative findings reveal that more secure forms of employment enable social organisation and workflow to manage heat stress and that, conversely, more contingent forms of employment such as contractual piece work can exacerbate exposure. The research demonstrates that the mode of employment has a direct bearing on the capacity to address workplace heat stress: growth in contract or 'gig' work may exacerbate impacts; this issue is likely to become more important with advancing climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the article is to track the part played by self-employed or independent contractors in shaping the wage contract. A petite bourgeoisie class that cannot be a party to an employment contract has been influential in shaping its judicial design. The reality is that in both English and Australian doctrine the judiciary has utilised the distinction between independent contractors and workers as the benchmark for categorising those embraced by an employment contract. The article argues that this state of affairs has resulted in a long standing judicial failure to provide a lucid exposition of the economic characteristics of the self-employed and wage earners, and that this has produced over an extensive historical period a series of misguided contract of employment tests. The failure to provide a cogent legal test for distinguishing the self-employed from those selling labour hours has a steep cost. When those who should be categorised as employees are classified as independent contractors the victims lose the prospect of access to employment protection rights. Social justice is the loser when the law fails to adopt a test that accurately identifies those asserting their right to the protective mantle of labour laws. A cardinal feature of the article is the space given to revisionist judges who in the past have been willing to take tentative steps towards forging an employment contract test that better reflected the economic lines separating the self-employed or independent contractors from wage labour. These bold spirits have been prepared to take the bull by the horns and begin the process of seeing class as an organising principle in distinguishing employees from independent contractors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A number of significant Federal Court and Fair Work Commission decisions decided in 2015 reveal the approach that each institution (the court on one hand and an administrative tribunal on the other) has taken to the interpretation and application of important workplace law principles and rules. These include the abiding question of ‘who is an employee’ and therefore covered by workplace laws; how the General Protections in the Fair Work Act should operate; what constitutes ‘fair’ treatment for the purposes of the Commission’s unfair dismissal and workplace bullying jurisdictions; and how flexibly (or technically) the rules for enterprise bargaining should be applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

If 2005 was a watershed year with the passing of the Work Choices legislation, then 2006 may well be considered year zero, symbolizing the beginning of a new era of Australian industrial relations under the employer friendly legislative regime. Employer groups were actively engaged in lobbying the Federal Government for further industrial relations reform, particularly in relation to the award rationalization process, and in pressuring the government for codification of the definition of 'independent contractors', as a means of immunizing them from many of the rigours currently imposed by employment and labour law. Key employer groups made significant submissions to the newly formed Australian Fair Pay Commission in the lead up to its inaugural minimum wages decision, and though generally urging caution in raising minimum wages, there were nevertheless some differences of emphasis and approach apparent between a number of them. Despite an absence of widespread industrial disputation, the year witnessed a number of employers exercising their newfound powers - including some enhanced legal options - to either by-pass unions or to constrain union activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complete overhaul of Australian labour laws by the federal government's Work Choices revisions continued to dominate debate and legislative activity throughout 2006. This article first considers some of the legislative and non-legislative regulatory responses of the State governments, and then outlines the implications of the new federal Independent Contractors legislation. Some late fine-tuning of the post-Work Choices, Workplace Relations Act to address problems identified in its first six months of operation is also noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]