A FWC full bench has dismissed an "unusual" unfair dismissal jurisdictional appeal, finding that a worker who took a pay cut due to his employer's financial struggles fell below the high income cap despite the company arguing that the Commission's compensation order proved his pay exceeded the threshold.
A major mining company should have paid untaken sick leave to 20 retrenched employees, the Federal Court has ruled, in a judgment closely examining how the Fair Work Act's high-income threshold applies to annualised salaries.
The FWC has found that unpredictable time in lieu should not be counted when determining whether a worker is excluded from making an unfair dismissal claim because their remuneration exceeds the statutory threshold.
A business manager summarily sacked by her director husband soon after they separated has lost her bid to run an unfair dismissal case after her use of a new car to move interstate helped to nudge her over the high-income threshold.
The FWC has counted a Rio Tinto worker's $20,000-plus remote area travel allowance as earnings that pushed her total income beyond the $153,600 cap for unfair dismissal claims.
A marijuana-smoking supervisor who allegedly resigned after declining a drug test has had his unfair dismissal claim thrown out because a "project uplift" allowance of at least 25% counted as earnings that pushed him beyond the high-income threshold.
The FWC has stymied a company director's unfair dismissal claim for a second time, after a fresh hearing affirmed his car allowance and other benefits put his earnings beyond the high income threshold.
Dismissal should be effected "in person"; Highly-paid manager not award-covered; Late claim sent to FWC staffer to proceed: Bench; Claim survives non-compliance with evidence deadline.
A senior FWC member has approved an employer's request for legal representation in a dismissal case, but not before requiring hearings be conducted in private, that he be free to provide "appropriate" guidance to the unrepresented former worker, and that he retain the power to revoke permission if the lawyer complicates proceedings.
