A mining truck driver's mobile phone use, detected by an infra-red driver alertness system, justified her dismissal, after what the FWC deemed to be a fair investigation process.
In what might stand as one of the last FWC cases relying on the High Court's 2022 Personnel decision to establish whether a worker is an employee or an independent contractor, the tribunal has rejected a manager's claim that she maintained the same role at a fintech company despite resigning and signing a contractor agreement as part of a move to Canada.
An employer must pay more than $30,000 compensation to a manager sacked over suspicions that he was taking it for a ride over sick leave, a fact only revealed under questioning by a FWC member.
An employer failed to "adhere to basic standards of decency" when it made an employee on parental leave redundant in an email, without consultation, in "a case that exemplifies the benefits" of having some form of "keeping in touch" system during parental leave, the FWC has found.
A worker resigned of his own volition because he blamed the death of his dog on his employer, after alleged underpayments that he claimed prevented him from being able to afford the surgery needed to save its life, the FWC has found.
The FWC has, at the same time as rejecting the unfair dismissal claim of a university lecturer who "relentlessly" pursued a personal relationship with a student, held that he s-xually harassed her and that his dishonesty provided a further valid reason to sack him.
The "clear and unambiguous" wording of a separation certificate confirmed an on-hire worker's dismissal, regardless of the labour supplier's intention, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
In a warning for employers about properly educating workers on workplace policies, the FWC has reinstated an employee dismissed for breaching drug and alcohol rules, because the major company failed to ensure its workforce understood a key change.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a manager on the Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest-owned Lizard Island who emailed a former colleague's employment contract to a friend with HR experience in an effort to build an underpayment case.
Working without a valid visa defeated a Costco employee's unfair dismissal claim, despite the necessary permit arriving within days of his sacking, the FWC has found.