The FWC has awarded compensation to a sacked childcare worker after noting the "disturbing" failure of a company's HR department to inform the chief executive of protections for employees forced to take time off due to illness or injury.
A criminal lawyer has succeeded in overturning findings that he unfairly sacked a solicitor and practice manager he accused of "insubordination" and "sabotage", a FWC bench ruling that a tribunal member was too dismissive of his explanation for missing a hearing.
The FWC has questioned the choices that left two sacked childcare workers out of pocket despite being awarded compensation of 21 weeks' pay, observing that a "realistic" approach to the employer's settlement offer would have avoided costs that included having a barrister represent them before the tribunal over three days.
An academic's $2 million adverse action case against a university's HR department has been transferred to the Federal Court, a judge observing that its outcome has "significant" implications for the tertiary sector's ability to scrap tenured positions funded by endowments.
In a decision said to have "massively" raised the bar on compensation amounts, Queensland's Industrial Court has boosted a "manifestly inadequate" $50,000 payout to nearly $160,000 for a casual laundry worker who faced demands for s-x in return for work.
The FWC has redrawn an employer's "line in the sand" over the use of mobile phones while driving forklifts, ordering it to reinstate and compensate a worker after concluding he was harshly sacked for a first safety policy breach.
A tribunal has ordered a restaurant manager accused of drugging and raping a bartender to pay aggravated and other damages of $150,000, after leaving the vulnerable international student too traumatised to keep working in the hospitality sector.
In a decision highlighting the challenges facing employers attempting to manage stand-downs during the pandemic, the FWC has ordered a global aviation ground services company to compensate a part-time worker after favouring more valued employees.
Inghams unfairly sacked an Ethiopian-born worker for failing to weight-check multiple boxes of turkey leg, the FWC has held, noting its failure to provide a translator while "superficially" adhering to correct procedures might explain why it did not know he was following a supervisor's instructions.
Leading wealth management company Ord Minnett is facing a $230,000 underpayment claim from a commission-based former advisor who is pursuing his minimum award rate and leave entitlements dating back to 2015, plus penalties.
