Bench says employer's "bland" description no help to BOOT assessment; FWC takes chainsaw to gardener's sacking; and Tribunal rejects bid to require witness to appear in person.
An administration manager sacked for being a "lying thief" has been awarded compensation of more than $13,000 after the FWC found instead that she had likely been made a scapegoat for a business's alleged attempt to commit insurance fraud.
In a closely-watched dismissal case contemplating how much weight should be attached to mitigating factors, an FWC majority full bench has reinstated a worker sacked for his foul abuse and threats to colleagues via text messages and phone calls while drunk.
In a rare case turning on an employee's loss of trust in his employer rather than the other way around, the FWC has stepped back from ordering the reinstatement of a worker found to have been unfairly dismissed, despite describing it as the most "compelling" remedy.
The FWC has ordered a franchisee to compensate an unfairly dismissed employee who contacted head office to report her boss for drunkenness and drink driving in accordance with company whistleblowing provisions.
An Australia Post employee has failed in a Federal Court bid to win reinstatement after his summary dismissal for acting as a paid industrial advocate for his colleagues.
In a decision sure to be closely analysed by employers, a court has ruled that a worker is entitled to accrued annual leave despite being paid a casual loading for 15 years.
A Rio Tinto employee has been reinstated after the FWC highlighted starkly different recommendations in investigations conducted by its HR and safety experts.
The FWC has reinstated a public bus driver dismissed after a road rage incident in which a vehicle was damaged and punches thrown, the commissioner observing that while the employee-employer relationship was "bruised", it was not beyond repair.
The FWC has reinstated a CFMEU lodge president dismissed for a series of threatening phone calls to workmates after questioning why recommendations and mitigating factors raised during a senior HR advisor's investigations were absent from the employer's final report.