A judge has slapped an $8000 penalty on a major Commonwealth department after expressing astonishment that it does not have a "human or technological" system in place to ensure it pays dismissed employees their correct entitlements.
The High Court has unanimously rejected mining giant Peabody's challenge to a finding that it failed to satisfy workplace laws governing redundancies when not properly considering alternative roles for 22 workers dismissed in 2020, ruling that the FWC was within its rights to delve into options like replacing already-engaged contractors.
The High Court will on Wednesday hand down its ruling on what mining giant Peabody says is a "critical" test of the laws governing whether a redundancy is genuine.
A HR manager's failure to resolve whether an IT specialist engaged as a contractor 20 years ago became an employee when added to the payroll 12 months later has backfired, after a court found he is owed more than $100,000 in leave entitlements.
In a genuine redundancy ruling, the FWC has confirmed that it simply needs to consider whether employers have notified a retrenchment in writing, rather than whether they have provided notice in "the most optimum manner".
Drawing on limited legislative guidance and case law on instalment payments, the FWC has ordered an employer to split a $30,000 compensation payment over two months rather than the 12 it sought, finding the worker entitled to the "fruits" of his claim "in a timely manner".
A retrenched educator who rejected an alternative role because she wanted to keep working from home at least a day a week has lost her severance entitlements, after the FWC found she did not have a formal right to maintain her flexible arrangements.
A training college must pay more than $8000 to an accounts manager reputedly made redundant in anticipation of laws restricting international student numbers that never passed.
The FWC has found a top sales operator made redundant the day before her parental leave started was in fact unfairly dismissed, with her employer apparently transferring into her role its lowest performer "by a significant margin".
A transport company is to be referred to the FWO over its "alarming" indifference to its obligations as an employer, after an unfair dismissal case in which it exhibited "disregard" for the FWC before being ordered to pay $30,000 to a former worker sacked without warning.
