An employee sacked for making a highly offensive comment about a coworker has lost her unfair dismissal claim, despite arguing she was "simply discussing work colleagues in the company of friends".
The seven-figure damages award arising from a mishandled termination process serves as an extra reminder for employers to consider the interplay between employment contracts and company policies and procedures, a workplace lawyer says.
An employee who was involved in multiple incidents, included two vehicle crashes and a D&A policy breach, was fairly dismissed despite his employer's lack of adherence to its own policy, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
Despite defending an unfair dismissal claim from a worker it had "every right" to sack, an employer has failed to win an order for all of its legal costs.
A deed of release prevented an employee from pursuing a general protections claim in the Fair Work Commission, a full bench has ruled, in refusing to disturb a finding that he signed it willingly.
An employer constructively dismissed an employee after its HR manager failed to investigate her bullying complaints and instead accused her of misconduct, the Fair Work Commission has found.
It was unfair to say an employee "should have known" that his performance was unsatisfactory, when the employer gave him no warnings and failed to follow its own policy before summarily dismissing him, according to the Fair Work Commission.
After complaining about dangerous workplace behaviour, an employee resigned in the heat of the moment, according to the Fair Work Commission, and his employer should have waited to confirm his intentions rather than accept it.
It "defies belief" that an employer would defend a consultation process as "best practice", when it involved informing a manager of his termination during an impromptu coffee meeting in a busy street, according to a tribunal.
An employer's decision to create a new role to absorb an employee's duties didn't mean her redundancy wasn't genuine, the Fair Work Commission has found.
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.
