INTRODUCTION
… The key legal issue in this casewas whether the applicant was an employee of Rasier Pacific (‘Uber’) or an independent contractor in light of the Services Agreement signed between Uber and Mr Rajab Suliman (‘Mr Suliman’), and if he could bring a claim for unfair dismissal under the FWA in the Fair Work Commission (‘FWC’). Consequently the FWC was required to interpret the terms and conditions attached to the Uber ‘Partner App’ and its application, and assess the nature of the employment relationship. To this end, the FWC, and a court, is required to take into account a number of indicia in order to distinguish between employees and independent contractors. This is a key consideration in any unfair dismissal case given that the unfair dismissal provisions under the FWA only apply to employees. The first part of this case note therefore considers the employment relationship and the traditional multi-factorial test employed to distinguish between employees and independent contractors as relevant to the case. The second part will provide specific background and context to the unfair dismissal dispute and key issues in Rajab Suliman v Rasier Pacific Pty Ltd. Lastly, this note will offer a number of observations in respect of the Uber-driver relationship when relying on the FWA and unfair dismissal provisions.
Duvenhage, Jacques, Rajab Suliman v Rasier Pacific Pty Ltd: Employee or Independent Contractor?, The University of Notre Dame Australia Law Review: volume 21 (2020), article 7.
First posted 2020-02-24 07:10:30
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