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Payroll action inadvertently triggered casual's dismissal claim

Temporarily removing casual employees from payroll systems risks triggering a "chain of events" that could lead to litigation, the Fair Work Commission has warned in a dismissal dispute.

Deputy President Peter Anderson said this case shows that taking a casual employee off a payroll system to save on administration fees "may trigger notification to the Australian Taxation Office and Centrelink that employment has ceased".

And depending on the circumstances, this could risk ending the employment relationship, which could constitute a dismissal under the Fair Work Act, he said.

In June this year an Ella Bache casual employee, who worked for the Sale, Victoria franchise, made a general protections application, claiming she had been dismissed in part because she had complained about her pay grade and superannuation...