An employer that accused a worker of abandoning her employment and causing it to lose customers will have to face her general protections claim, after the Fair Work Commission found it dismissed her.
Managing unplanned absences can be fraught with risk, particularly when employers haven't strictly enforced certain obligations in the past, a lawyer warns.
It wasn't reasonable to expect an organisation to continue employing a manager with reduced work capacity while its sales were in decline, the Fair Work Commission has found in upholding his dismissal.
Managing absent or incapacitated employees is always tough to get right, and myriad case law highlights the consequences of mishandling this area. This HR Daily Premium webcast provides a review of relevant legislation and rulings in this space.
Asking an employee to attend a disciplinary meeting and provide a medical certificate for his unauthorised absence wasn't "coercion", the Fair Work Commission has found in unfair dismissal proceedings.
An employee who refused to attend an independent medical examination has lost her appeal against the direction, after a commission rejected that her employer was trying to block her return to work.
An employer has failed to prove a worker who had been absent for more than 12 months had abandoned his employment, with the Fair Work Commission finding he was too unwell, rather than unwilling, to return.
An employer was not required to put the interests of an employee "ahead of all others", in engaging in mediation to help him return to work after an 18-month absence, the Fair Work Commission has ruled in rejecting his unfair dismissal claim.
An employee has failed to prove she was forced to resign because of her employer's lack of support following an illness, with the Fair Work Commission finding it wasn't required to offer her alternative duties.
An employee who suffered from back pain because of her "big boobs" has failed to convince the Fair Work Commission she should have been allowed to return to her physically demanding role after being certified "fit for normal duties".
Workplace bullying complaints continue to pose significant challenges for employers, including where the behaviour doesn't meet the legal definition of bullying or the threshold to make a claim. Watch this HR Daily Premium webcast to understand key lessons from cases where bullying complaints interact with other claims and issues.
What constitutes "best practice" when managing neurodiversity at work is evolving all the time. Watch this HR Daily Premium webcast to learn how to embed neuroinclusive practices into HR programs and every stage of the employment lifecycle.
