The FWC has upheld under the small business code the summary dismissal of a manager accused of blackmailing his employer into paying an $85,000 separation package in return for him abandoning a proposed complaint to OHS authorities.
A court has thrown out an aggrieved former employee's bullying case, finding he could not substantiate claims of a "complex conspiracy" that involved a flatulent supervisor.
The FWC has poked holes in the record-keeping and training practices of an employer and its HR manager that summarily dismissed a long-serving employee for breaching its "zero tolerance" mobile phone policy without making sure he was aware of it.
In a closely-watched dismissal case contemplating how much weight should be attached to mitigating factors, an FWC majority full bench has reinstated a worker sacked for his foul abuse and threats to colleagues via text messages and phone calls while drunk.
An FWC full bench has accepted that ordering a "cooling off" period unfairly rewarded an employer for its intransigence in refusing to bargain during a protected strike.
The Federal Circuit Court has taken a broad view of what amounts to an employment-related complaint in ordering an employer to pay more than $150,000 in compensation and penalties for its adverse action when it sacked a senior employee who upbraided his chief executive for failing to pay outstanding invoices to a key subcontractor that had downed tools in protest.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a personal assistant who became entangled in a company power play, finding that her employer's belief that she lied to cover a director's tardiness satisfied the requirements of the small business code.
In a rare case turning on an employee's loss of trust in his employer rather than the other way around, the FWC has stepped back from ordering the reinstatement of a worker found to have been unfairly dismissed, despite describing it as the most "compelling" remedy.
The FWC has ordered a franchisee to compensate an unfairly dismissed employee who contacted head office to report her boss for drunkenness and drink driving in accordance with company whistleblowing provisions.
Glencore's Oaky North coal mine workers have voted to accept the same in-principle agreement that they rejected in January, with the CFMMEU crediting its successful FWC bid to pause a bitter seven-month lockout with creating the right environment to break the deadlock.
