The FWC is considering the remedy for an unfairly dismissed labourer after the death of his employer, who sacked him via text message because he lodged a WorkCover claim and planned to take time off to recover from a workplace injury.
A senior FWC member has identified a paid agent's apparent "lack of familiarity" with Commission processes as a reason for refusing a worker's request for representation to defend his dismissal for alleged time-theft.
The FWC has upbraided a small business owner for informing a supervisor through an email drafted with help from ChatGPT that it had decided to retrench her, finding that sacking a worker via such a "cursory" means fails "to adhere to basic standards of decency".
The FWC has found it unfair to summarily sack an "unsatisfied" manager accused of using her small business employer's email to seek a job with a competitor.
The FWC has found an employer that accused a carpenter of submitting a "fake doctor's certificate" complied with the small business fair dismissal code when it summarily sacked him.
Increasing the small business unfair dismissal definition from 15 to 20 employees by headcount would expose an extra 500,000 workers to inferior protections, while lifting it to 50 would affect almost an additional two million, according to an FWO report that says there is insufficient consensus across the IR spectrum to support any change.
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 63-year-old brothel receptionist summarily sacked via an intermediary after 15 years of "loyal" service in the "happy little family" workplace will receive near-maximum compensation, after a FWC ruling.
In a decision questioning the value of medical certificates issued over the internet, a senior FWC member has excoriated a Melbourne lawyer after finding he claimed sick days in order to attend the AFL's Gather Round in Adelaide and "inexcusabl[y]" provided false evidence in pursuing his unfair dismissal case.
