In a significant decision affecting those in temporary government roles, the FWC has found a Federal department failed to recognise it was dismissing a "non-ongoing" employee when it informed him that repeated instances of disrespectful behaviour meant he would not be offered further work.
The FWC has given short shrift to union applications for a protected action ballot at Kimberly-Clark Australia, finding a cancelled meeting and a week's delay in securing a new date cannot be construed as being obstructive.
In a case in which classroom allergy management has intersected with IR laws, the FWC has reinstated an infants teacher summarily dismissed for allegedly breaching her duty of care when she gave an "unsafe" chocolate to a pupil, after checking its ingredients.
The ripples from a recent decision upsetting the authority on outer limits contract workers pursuing unfair dismissal claims have reached another jurisdiction, with the WA IR Commission ordering the reinstatement of a septuagenarian school traffic warden who had been "taken advantage" of by the employer.
In a significant decision on out-of-hours conduct, the FWC has ruled that ALDI justifiably dismissed a storeperson for throwing a full beer glass over the heads of colleagues at an official company Christmas party.
The FWC has given Workplace Minister Craig Laundy the go-ahead to put his case that the MFB agreement should be rejected because it contains discriminatory and objectionable terms and fails the BOOT.
The FWC has praised Australia Post subsidiary Startrack Express for its flawless process in dismissing an employee who "crossed a line" from tolerable crudity to unacceptable racism in his remarks to colleagues.
An order requiring the NTEU to give a university more than the statutory three days' notice of protected industrial action has been quashed by an FWC full bench that found a tribunal member wrongly presupposed that any such action would be suspended by the Commission if it interfered with student exams or graduation.
A court has imposed a $71,000 costs order on an HR manager who took a "scattergun" approach to challenging her dismissal, but has stopped short of imposing a similar order on her high-profile Sydney barrister, despite criticising his role in the case.
In a significant decision on entry rights, a Federal Court full bench has confirmed today that a permit holder's right to hold discussions with union members or potential members during "breaks" does not include the period before and after their shifts.
