The FWC has reinstated a Sydney Trains worker who used cocaine while on leave, after lambasting the employer for not making it clear that it tests for use rather than impairment and for failing to take on board earlier criticism of its drug and alcohol policy.
Qube Ports must reinstate a stevedore who pranged a client's $70,000 Mercedes after an operations manager mistook her explanations as an attempt to excuse her behaviour or shift the blame.
The FWC has castigated an employer for its "unconscionable" and "intimidatory" written notice suggesting that a casual duty manager committed theft and fraud when she failed to pay for a drink or offer an explanation for missing stock, while it has also lambasted its representative, Clubs NSW, for its "unprofessional" conduct in characterising her conduct as criminal.
The FWC has ordered a Gold Coast cabaret club to compensate two workers it sacked after intercepting private social media discussions about a colleague's pay, finding it treated them like they had broken into its equivalent of the Watergate complex to expose key secrets over WikiLeaks.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a mineworker for failing to disclose his use of prescription medicinal cannabis on his days off, despite the fact he passed all drug tests and left a 32-hour buffer before the start of his working weeks.
The FWC has upheld a business owner's on-the-spot sacking of his newly separated-wife when she refused to hand over an account password, finding their interpersonal conflict and her failure to follow directions trumped a flawed dismissal process.
The FWC has ordered the reinstatement of a dump truck driver dismissed after a "deeply flawed" investigation into allegations he exposed a female trainee to explicit images while passing around his phone.
The FWC might refer a "regrettable, expensive and damaging episode" to the South Australian Correctional Services Department, after it failed to allow a worker on remand to contact his employer, and the employer dismissed him for failing to attend work.
The FWC has offered a worker a week to consider his possible reinstatement, finding that his employer unfairly dismissed him for a low-speed wheelie-bin collision.
A worker sacked for sleeping on the job will have another shot at getting his job back after a full bench found a senior member failed to put him on notice that he considered reinstatement inappropriate and reached an "unsound" conclusion that the employer had a valid reason.
