Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has today continued his "rebalancing" of the Fair Work Commission, appointing seven commissioners and a deputy president, all with union or union-friendly backgrounds.
A trainee disability therapist sacked for failing to complete the necessary accreditation has won compensation after the FWC found his employer gave him insufficient time to correct the situation following his "confrontational" response to being stood-down.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a worker for telling a colleague during an argument that "I'll f-ck you in the a-se", finding that the choice of words went "far beyond" simply swearing in the workplace and constituted s-xual harassment.
In a close analysis of what constitutes regular and systematic employment, a senior FWC member has held that a casual trolley collector met the minimum service period to allow him to pursue Bunnings for unfair dismissal, despite "unpredictable" shifts and a contract expressly stating he should not expect ongoing work or guaranteed hours.
In a case expanding the circumstances under which the FWC will not publish a finding, the tribunal has rejected union arguments that it should release its decision so as to potentially "clear the name" of a former BHP worker who committed suicide after hearings into his unfair dismissal claim were completed.
An employer has failed to establish that it genuinely made a software engineer redundant, in part because it should have offered her a lower-paying job available at a related entity in India.
A criminal lawyer with an "ostrich-like" attitude has failed to convince a judge to reconsider a default judgment ordering him to pay two former employees penalties, costs, long service leave and super totalling more than $70,000.
In a decision closely examining when employees can be directed to perform extra duties, a FWC full bench has ruled that a maintenance worker could refuse to remotely monitor an automated gate at a gas supplier's facility.
The FWC has refused to throw out an allegedly out-of-time adverse action case, ruling a FIFO worker only learned he had been sacked when told he had been left off the list of passengers due to board a plane to the worksite.
