Even though an employer didn't proactively seek medical information about an absent employee, it wasn't unfair to dismiss him on the basis of incapacity, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
There was no evidence to support an employee's allegations of "unresolved psychosocial hazards", and in any case these didn't justify his unauthorised absences from work, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
Despite its evidence of ongoing performance issues, an employer has failed to prove it didn't sack an employee for frequently taking unplanned personal leave.
An absent employee did not abandon his employment, the Fair Work Commission has found, but rather his employer showed a "troubling and inexcusable disinterest" in his welfare prior to sacking him.
An unfair dismissal claim won by an employee suspected of misusing his personal leave entitlement highlights that employers should avoid making hasty conclusions about misconduct, a lawyer says.
The importance of complying with a direction didn't justify the "obstinate rejection" of an employee's explanations for not doing so, the Fair Work Commission has found in ordering her reinstatement.
Engaging an external contractor didn't undermine an employer's genuine redundancy defence to an unfair dismissal claim, the Fair Work Commission has found, rejecting there were any signs of a "sham".
Frustration with an employee who acted unprofessionally should not have coloured an employer's perception of whether her "disrespectful" comments amounted to a resignation, the Fair Work Commission has found.
An employee's failure to notify his ongoing absence after annual leave was a valid reason to dismiss him, but the employer's informal management approach and lack of procedural fairness warranted his reinstatement, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
It was appropriate for an employer to seek detailed medical clearance after a worker's lengthy mental health absence, the Fair Work Commission has noted, in rejecting that he was constructively dismissed.