Court and tribunal decisions page 1 of 373

3729 articles are classified in All Articles > Legal > Court and tribunal decisions


Criticising bosses on chat group a sackable offence: FWC

A supervisor's criticism of management in a social media group chat that "incit[ed] a negative and combative environment among the team", along with performance issues, provided a valid basis for dismissing her, the FWC has found.

Agreement did not make work "voluntary": Court

The MUA has failed to convince a Federal Court judge that stevedores are owed for days lost through strikes because their agreement supposedly guaranteed 30 hours a week pay once they reached an annual threshold, whether they worked or not.

CV holdouts have redundancy payouts cut

The FWC has halved the redundancy payouts for two finance workers who stood in the way of their employer's attempt to find jobs with a competitor by declining its request for updated resumes.

Familiar Seek ad provides reason for late application: FWC

The FWC has waved through a worker's late unfair dismissal application after accepting that it took seeing a job advertisement closely mirroring her role to crystallise doubts about whether she had genuinely been made redundant.

FWC reflects on "window of currency" for valid sacking reasons

In a decision assessing how long a valid reason remains "current", the FWC has overlooked serious procedural deficiencies to back a landscaping business's summary sacking of a gardener almost two months after he called a colleague a "fat exploiter of foreigners".

Big penalty after employer's threats to kill workers' families

A massage business and its director must pay more than $2 million in fines and compensation after significantly short-changing temporary visa workers, subjecting them to a "cashback" scheme and threatening to kill their families if they blew the whistle.

High Court asked to consider "genuine" redundancies

Mining giant Peabody has asked the High Court to weigh in on the "critical question" of when redundancies can be considered genuine and the extent of FWC powers to determine how employers might avoid job losses.

"Unacceptably exploitative" case referred to FWC GM

A FWC senior member has thrown out the unfair dismissal case of a Sri Lankan worker paid $300 a month as she did not meet the minimum employment period, but will refer it to the general manager for advice or to notify the authorities.

500% of award rates a bit rich: FWC bench

Employers have succeeded in varying an award clause a FWC full bench agrees could produce the "absurd" result of workers receiving five times the prescribed minimum rates.

FWC slams "dishonest" portrayal of meeting site

A FWC presidential member has taken exception to a HSU official's description of a clinical handover area as a meal room suitable for conducting meetings, dismissing it as a "self-serving label. . . border[ing] on dishonest".