A former GM Holden engineer is suing the company for adverse action, sham contracting and coercion, alleging it reduced her redundancy payout by more than $20,000 when she refused to sign a separation agreement without continuity of service covering her time as a contractor.
The FWC's landmark ruling that a former Foodora rider was an employee is unlikely to have implications for other major gig economy platforms like Uber and Deliveroo, according to leading IR law academic Andrew Stewart.
In a landmark decision that will send tremors through the gig economy, the FWC has found that a former Foodora rider was an employee capable of being sacked, rather than an independent contractor as held by the delivery platform.
An FWC member has lambasted a council for numerous "missteps" in its dismissal of an Aboriginal night patrol officer, recommending it review its processes and advice received from an HR consultancy.
A senior FWC member has highlighted continuing difficulties faced by unrepresented applicants in distinguishing between the unfair dismissal and general protections jurisdictions, allowing a casual worker's claim to proceed despite him filing it a week late.
The FWC has spelt out the perils of supervisors expressing feelings for subordinates in a case where an engineer claimed she was unfairly dismissed after rejecting advances from a colleague who wanted to "get into her pants".
An employer has fended off an unfair dismissal claim by establishing that he did not sack a receptionist in a series of heated exchanges, but that she left based on her perception that he did.
Labour hire company Spinifex Recruiting has again come under fire for its reliance on a "misnamed" temporary employment agreement, with an FWC full bench rejecting its argument that it did not dismiss a casual worker because its client merely exercised its discretion to terminate her assignment.
The FWC has held that a supervisor's demotion to a job "on the tools" with a 9% pay cut was in fact a dismissal, rejecting employer submissions that it was allowed under his contract or via a "notorious" unwritten term.
