The FWC has observed it is "not necessary" to consider whether representation creates unfairness between parties, as a French company was granted permission to engage a lawyer to defend a self-represented employee's unfair dismissal claim.
A presidential member of the FWC has prodded legislators to revisit "confusing" aspects of the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code in order to deliver on its promise of speeding parties' progress through the unfair dismissal jurisdiction.
An FWC full bench majority has refused to accept that an employer's flawed investigation process, coupled with uncharacteristic behaviour purportedly sparked by mixing medication and alcohol, excused a coal miner sacked over profanity-laced threats to co-workers.
In a decision further clarifying when and to what extent lawyers can become involved in FWC cases, the Commission says its rules do not stop parties seeking legal advice in the lead-up to hearings.
An Australia Post employee has failed in a Federal Court bid to win reinstatement after his summary dismissal for acting as a paid industrial advocate for his colleagues.
An FWC full bench led by President Iain Ross has sent a powerful signal to members to back their own judgement in inherent requirements cases where there is conflicting medical evidence, describing a previous full bench decision ceding the final say to employers as "plainly wrong".
An FWC full bench has quashed an interlocutory decision allowing an employer to engage lawyers, finding it incumbent on the tribunal to give a self-represented employee an opportunity to weigh in on the matter.
A worker will have another shot at seeking a 45-day extension to file his general protections claim after an FWC full bench found he was wrongly refused on the basis that he needed a credible explanation for the entire length of the delay.
An FWC full bench has made a rare security of costs order against a social worker it calculated has "little prospect" of being granted permission to appeal a rejected unfair dismissal claim.
The FWC has ordered a council to reinstate a beach inspector summarily sacked after fixing air-conditioning units that heated instead of cooled its new vehicles, taking it to task over a deeply flawed investigative process that belied the HR and legal expertise available to it.
