"During the COVID-19 challenge we obviously face enormous hurdles going forward to regrow employment,and this decision is unfortunately a driver of uncertainty into the employment market,"Mr Porter said.
He said the fact the court had been forced to make a major clarification to workplace law in the middle of a pandemic showed"the very significant shortcomings in Australia's industrial relations system".
TheFederal Court on Wednesday ruled that a worker with regular,ongoing shifts and a firm commitment to work in advance is a permanent employee – even if they have been labelled a casual – and is entitled to paid annual and sick leave.
Business groups warned the economy faces an employment cliff when the government's JobKeeper wage subsidy ends if it does not reform the law. Casuals are only eligible for JobKeeper if they have worked with an employer on a regular basis for 12 months,which means they are also more likely to be classified as a permanent employee under the ruling.
About 1.6 million casual workers in Australia - more than half the total - work on a regular,ongoing basis,according to employer analysis of government data,suggesting bosses could face $8 billion in leave payments following the decision.
Casual workers are typically paid a 25 per cent loading in lieu of paid leave and other benefits but the court ruled if they are actually permanent employees then businesses cannot deduct the cost of leave from extra money they were paid because their bosses had misclassified them.
The worker in the Federal Court case was employed on mines owned by mining giant Glencore through a labour hire company. He often worked 12-hour shifts on pre-determined rosters including one week on,one week off.