Pacific National has been ordered to reinstate a train driver, after the FWC uncovered flaws in its investigation before it sacked him for speeding and leaving his co-driver behind while she took a trackside toilet break.
Employers must conduct a reasonable investigation and avoid a "knee-jerk reaction" when considering sacking any employee facing serious out-of-hours criminal charges, a tribunal has warned.
Morning sickness justifies extending time; Legal representation granted in drug test dismissal case; Constructive dismissal by phone justified after vehicle log book failure; Refusal to accept a large settlement not unreasonable, says FWC; and "Informal chat" insufficient consultation for horse trainer redundancy.
A HR manager has been fined more than $1,000 by the Federal Circuit Court for the part she played in her employer's provision of insufficient notice when dismissing an injured employee.
The FWC has ordered an employer defending an unfair dismissal claim to produce a consultant's bullying report sought by an employee it sacked after he drew a stylised p-nis on a workplace incident report, while it has refused to effectively "mandate" that the employer be represented by its employer association's lawyer.
A worker with a "dismissive" attitude to OHS who breached his employer's zero alcohol tolerance policy has been compensated because a previous warning was too severe.
A confectionery company discriminated against an employee when it failed to consider, or give him an opportunity to propose, adjustments that might have enabled him to continue working, a tribunal has found.
A welder's claims that he was "fine" after bingeing on 20 cans of full-strength beer over 12 hours on Australia Day before facing a random breath test at work has failed to impress FWC member Danny Cloghan, who says it "would be greeted with that very Australian saying relating to animal manure".
Despite being lawfully sacked for his inability to return to pre-injury duties, a Qantas baggage handler will be compensated after the FWC found steps leading to the decision were inadequate, confusing and lacked procedural fairness.
An employer that the FWC found had "acted quite benevolently" and had tried to accommodate the needs of a worker suffering health problems has been ordered to pay compensation after mishandling her dismissal.
