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.
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.
The FWC has thrown out on natural justice grounds an employer's application for costs against a 75-year-old physiotherapist who died during her unfair dismissal case, having previously indicated she would "vigorously defend" any such bid.
Confusing evidence from Rio Tinto experts might have contributed to a senior FWC member incorrectly assessing the number of safety breaches committed by a dismissed mechanic, a Commission full bench has found.
An employer that slashed its general manager's earnings from $180,000 to $120,000 in the five months leading up to his dismissal has argued that he was paid under a "variable wages agreement" that exceeded the high income threshold when averaged over the year.
A former Flight Attendants Association manager is testing the union's ability to claim a small business exemption for her unfair dismissal claim, with the FWC ordering its international and national divisions to provide pay records and meeting notes about the salaries of all elected officials.
