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A dispute over whether a worker was an employee or a contractor illustrates how some of the recent Fair Work Act amendments can be particularly complex to apply in practice, a lawyer says.

In this case the Fair Work Commission was required to apply "the old rules" in determining whether a worker was an employee, and found there was an independent contractor relationship, says King & Wood Mallesons' senior consultant Brett Feltham.

In October last year, the care services worker lodged an unfair dismissal claim against Kohli Traders, but it raised a jurisdictional objection on the basis she was an independent contractor, not an employee...