Court and tribunal decisions page 173 of 373

3728 articles are classified in All Articles > Legal > Court and tribunal decisions


FWC deep-dives on nature of work

The importance of 'choice versus direction' in determining whether employees are working or not has been highlighted in an FWC decision considering the case of boat masters and crew having their unpaid meal breaks interrupted to assist passengers on multi-day dive trips.

$10K for manager sacked while on sick leave

A home improvement company had a valid reason to sack a business manager who recklessly approved credit for a struggling customer, but the FWC has held that its process in dismissing him while on sick leave rendered it unfair.

Bank not in deal breach despite IT worker's cloud-based fears

An IT specialist with a major bank has failed to persuade the FWC that deployment to a new cloud-first role represented an agreement breach because it placed unreasonable demands on his fading capacity to learn.

Tech giant can't retrospectively cap sales commissions: Court

Hewlett Packard must pay an overperforming sales executive more than $370,000 to honour a decade-old unpaid bonus, after the technology giant failed to establish that it can retrospectively cap commissions if employees substantially exceed targets.

R&R counts towards minimum employment period: FWC

A casual FIFO worker has been cleared to pursue an unfair dismissal claim despite the employer arguing that half of his seven months with them was taken up with unpaid R&R.


Late unfair dismissal applicant "honoured" her dying mother: FWC

A worker dismissed two days before flying overseas only to discover on arrival that her mother was dying of cancer has had her late unfair dismissal application accepted, the FWC finding it would have been "shockingly callous" to require detailed medical records sought by her former employer.

Accountants allege employer's unethical behaviour voided contracts

A court has cleared the way for two accountants fighting a restraint of trade case to argue that their contracts were void if their employer breached implied terms requiring it to act lawfully and in accordance with the industry's code of ethics.

Contempt fine for worker who breached "dense" undertakings

A Supreme Court judge has penalised but stopped short of jailing a salesperson for contempt, finding it likely he struggled to understand the "dense" undertakings he gave that he would not compete against his former employer for business.