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A recent ruling has highlighted ongoing difficulties in determining employee/contractor disputes, despite the High Court's clarification earlier this year.

In light of the Jamsek and Personnel Contracting decisions, the Fair Work Ombudsman was appealing an underpayments case from October, in which it had failed to prove four delivery drivers for Avert Logistics (formerly Boske Road Transport) had various entitlements as employees.

Hearing the appeal, Federal Court Justice John Logan noted the High Court rulings concluded that where the terms of a relationship have been "committed comprehensively to a written contract", the "legal rights and obligations established by that contract are decisive of the character of the relationship"...