In a reminder to employers to double-check before assuming a worker has abandoned their employment, a business must pay $7000 to an ex-employee after it withdrew his visa sponsorship over an unexplained three-day absence that turned out to be GP-recommended stress leave.
There is "no place for bawdy offensive alpha-male behaviour in the workplace", the FWC has found, in upholding the dismissal of a male worker for asking a female colleague for a kiss and telling another co-worker that he wanted to "f-ck" his sister.
The FWC has sent employers a clear reminder of the conditions and processes required to justify summary dismissal, with its reinstatement of a contractor's employee who admitted to vomiting at a major client's after-hours function but denied propositioning one of its managers.
The FWC has castigated an HR department for casting aside its "proper role" when it pursued incorrect allegations and facilitated the unfair dismissal by ambush of a manager it considered an "ongoing management problem".
In a rare case, two former operators of a Canberra massage parlour potentially face up to a year in jail for allegedly providing false or misleading evidence to the FWC.
A Qantas flight attendant has failed in his second chance to have an FWC full bench overturn his dismissal for downing 14 standard drinks at a New York bar, rendering himself unfit for duty the following day.
A carpenter who claimed he was forced to resign for his own safety after a company director threatened to "take" his liver did so of his own volition, the FWC has found.
A multinational company was entitled to dismiss an employee for sending commercial-in-confidence emails to a former co-worker preparing legal action over alleged bullying by its HR manager, the FWC has found.
The FWC has upheld the dismissal of a warehouse worker who repeatedly breached his employer's policies on smoking, eating and drinking in the workplace.
The FWC has allowed a Qantas ground services worker to proceed with his 52-days-late unfair dismissal application, finding his solicitor's focus on an internal appeal while failing to complete the necessary forms before going on holiday amounted to representative error.
