A multinational "people flow" company can require a tradesperson with severe claustrophobia to transfer from an escalator repair team to an elevator repair team, the FWC has found, while cautioning that its approach to accommodating his condition would be considered if he returned with an unfair dismissal claim.
The FWC has reinstated a nurse dismissed while recovering from a serious car accident and a work-related needle-stick injury, expressing "dismay" at the hospital's failure to inquire about her ability to return to her previous role.
A court has rejected an employee's claim that his former employer breached disability discrimination legislation when it failed to offer redundancy or redeploy him after he sustained an injury at work.
The FWC has criticised a company for fundamental failures of due process in a dismissal overseen by its HR function and warned that treating workers as human resources runs the risk of ignoring that they are "easily damaged" human beings "and when faulty they should be handled with more care than machines".
A long-serving GM Holden employee sacked for working on his investment property while dishonestly claiming workers' compensation has lost his entitlement to retraining and a redundancy payment of up to $180,000 when the company closes its manufacturing operations next year.
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.
Australia's largest rail freight operator, Aurizon, has been ordered to provide the full pro-rata rate of pay to a train driver who was to receive a reduced amount under a compassionate grounds/short-term medical disability clause when she returned part-time from maternity leave.
A tribunal has found an employee's severe morning sickness is a "disability" but has rejected the bulk of her discrimination claims, including that her employer failed to make reasonable changes to her hours and conditions.
