When “Becoming a Contractor” Becomes the Law: ZG Operations v Jamsek

For 30 years, two truck drivers delivered lighting goods for the same company. When they were told to “become contractors” — buying their own trucks — they kept working as before. But decades later, the High Court ruled they were never employees. In ZG Operations v Jamsek (2022), the Court drew a sharp line: when a contract is genuine, not a sham, its words decide the relationship. The case reshaped what “independence” means in Australian work law.