A court has declined to hear discrimination cases brought by three health workers sacked mid-pandemic for refusing COVID-19 jabs, finding no merit in their arguments that being unvaccinated should be treated as a disability.
Tutor's sacking over "s-x object" comment warranted; $16K compensation after "cursory" text message dismissal; "False hope" provided by AI; Expelled priest not an employee; and Bench upholds joint smoker's reinstatement.
A marine superintendent who unsuccessfully challenged a cruise operator's right to stand him down during the Covid-19 pandemic has failed to have the decision belatedly anonymised, after a FWC full bench expressed doubt that it could affect his job prospects.
In a decision further expanding the breadth of flexibility requests, a senior FWC member has "with some hesitation" found that a warehouse's ban on mobile phones falls under the statutory definition of a "working arrangement" that can be changed.
A court has affirmed that a law firm could treat an employee's silence as acceptance to being "furloughed" without pay during the coronavirus pandemic, rejecting his second-round bid to recoup about $50,000 via a small claims application.
The need for legislation to enshrine two days a week of working from home for all employees is "not clear", as many employers and workers have now found a hybrid "sweet spot" without any government intervention, according to the Productivity Commission.
The FWC has found that an employer had no reasonable option other than to dismiss a worker who persistently refused to comply with its hybrid working policy, based on his belief that his employment contract provided an "unconditional" right to work from home.
The proportion of employees working from home in 2023 has hardly eased since the COVID-19 lockdown, with 35% of workers doing some WFH and 15% performing most of their hours away from the office, according to the latest HILDA report.
A leading employment and IR barrister says the four-day working week, working from home and the right to disconnect are part of an unavoidable reorganisation of working hours that is set to become "the big issue of our time".
The Federal Court has today ordered Qantas to pay a $90 million fine - including $50 million to the TWU - for the Flying Kangaroo's unlawful outsourcing of the jobs of about 1800 ground handling employees, while it has criticised chief executive Vanessa Hudson for failing to appear to explain the airline's contrition.
