He proposed the contractor deal himself - then argued he'd been an employee all along
A remote sales contractor said his boss sacked him. The Fair Work Commission found he was never an employee - and never dismissed.
The Fair Work Commission dismissed a general protections application on August 28, 2026, after finding the man had been an independent contractor, not an employee, of a small digital marketing agency. General protections cases deal with claims that a worker was let go for using a workplace right. Because the Commission found no employment relationship, there was no dismissal for it to consider, and the case went no further.
The worker never applied for the job on offer. The agency had advertised a casual appointment-setter role. Instead of applying, he booked a call through the company's website and pitched himself for something bigger - running its entire sales function. In his first message he said he ran sales "like a system."
The Commission had one question to settle first: was he an employee at all? Under section 15AA of the Fair Work Act, that depends on "the real substance, practical reality and true nature of the relationship" - the whole arrangement, not just the paperwork.
Much of it pointed to a contractor. He had asked to be engaged as one, telling the director it made "dipping out of the country when I choose to easier." He billed through his own ABN, the number sole traders use to invoice clients. He worked for other businesses during the...
Police recommend charges against Kim Sae-ron’s mother and family lawyer over false claims Police have referred several more people to prosecutors in the legal battle surrounding actor Kim Soo-hyun,...