A judge has rejected a former employee's $2 million-plus compensation claim after finding her unlawful sacking was not "the cause or even a material contributing cause" of an alleged psychological injury and that she would have lost her job anyway within months.
A former FWO chief counsel-turned judge has taken an axe to the workplace regulator's belief in penalties as a general deterrent, expressing astonishment at its "staggering" pursuit of a $21,000 fine against an employer who quickly coughed up a $976 underpayment once a junior worker provided proof of their age.
The FWC has declined to issue anti-bullying orders against a body corporate secretary despite observing her communication style was "seen as combative and demeaning" and that she displayed "the characteristics of a narcissist".
A small business owner and his company must pay more than $125,000 in compensation after a court found he s-xually harassed a 20-year-old worker with disabilities by asking about her fantasies and whether they would have s-x if they were dating.
A FWC full bench has quashed a finding that the ACT's education department unfairly sacked a teacher who crossed boundaries with students, including by messaging them and providing lifts, remitting the case to another member for redetermination.
A Federal Court majority has quashed a finding that the Black Coal Award requires BHP's Operations Services in-house labour hire arm to give its workforce two common public holidays off each year, and to cap shifts at 10 hours unless most employees agree to additional hours at overtime rates.
The FWC has ordered an employer to allow a mother with two young children – one with special needs – to mostly work from her outer suburban home, rebuffing its call for her to attend its Sydney CBD office two days a week.
An academic will tell a major conference that employers must create safe environments for workers to speak out and report harassment and bullying, with recent victimisation findings and rising 'hostile environment' complaints putting positive duty obligations in the spotlight.
A contentious random drug and alcohol testing regime can go ahead at Opal Packaging after a full Federal Court found both employer and union erred and in turn led the primary judge astray by focusing on who benefited from a requirement that the "status quo remain" in their dispute resolution procedure, while ignoring the rest of the clause.
An academic says employers' use of multi-functional AI systems without including HR and workers in decision-making is handing power to algorithms, tech vendors and IT teams, creating far-reaching "unintended consequences".
