HR Stream page 408 of 522

With Australia's new federal bullying regime set to take effect next year, the FWC has turned to the UK's national workplace tribunal for its experiences in dealing with bullying and harassment complaints.

An employee made redundant while pregnant has lost her adverse action case, with the Federal Circuit Court accepting a business downturn was behind her job loss, and rejecting her claim that her employer became hostile to her because she wouldn't commit to taking only six months parental leave.

The Fair Work Commission has rejected an employee's claim that his redundancy was not genuine because his company should have redeployed him overseas.

An employee sacked for refusing to carry out directions he claimed would put him in breach of state law has lost his adverse action case, with a court ruling that while he was entitled to refuse to perform the work, he was not exercising a workplace right.

Sexually explicit text messages between two colleagues in a relationship were found to be inadmissible in an adverse action case because it couldn't be concluded that the "author would be likely to replicate in the workplace the content, tone or subject of text messages which were indisputably intended to remain private".

The Federal Court has ruled that a betting agency employee's ability to seek legal advice about unpaid commissions was a "workplace right" and that when she threatened to exercise it, her employer took adverse action against her by threatening to sack her.

Bankruptcy a bar to compensation; and Court leave needed for claim against company in voluntary liquidation.

The Federal Circuit Court has found a rail company took unlawful adverse action when it dismissed a locomotive driver who became sick and anxious and couldn't go through with a competency assessment six weeks after he was involved in a crash.

The Toll Group and the TWU have reached an "in principle" agreement for the company's 10,000-strong workforce, delivering a potential pay increase of 15.25% over four years and a commitment to maintain employer super contributions at 3% above the statutory minimum.

In a decision that has the potential to expand the number of general protections cases, a Fair Work Commission full bench headed by the president has ruled that the tribunal has no power to dismiss an application on jurisdictional grounds and must hold a conference once a claim has been lodged.