Being sacked for serious misconduct after regularly complaining of workplace bullying and harassment would have made a manager feel like "a grave injustice had been perpetrated", the Federal Circuit Court has accepted in adverse action proceedings.
The Federal Circuit Court has ordered an employee to pay $125k of his employer's legal costs, finding his actions during general protections proceedings were "so manifestly unreasonable, there must be consequences".
The Fair Work Commission has agreed to redact certain parts of a published decision, after an HR manager belatedly realised it would include "sensitive personal and medical information" she submitted as evidence.
A recent general protections penalty decision contains three major lessons for employers about this "different beast" of a regime, according to a workplace lawyer.
A manager should have realised that a $2.2 million offer to settle his long-running adverse action case was the best outcome he could realistically expect, the Federal Court has commented, in making a costs order against him.
Employers and HR practitioners continue to make some avoidable mistakes after dismissing employees, which increase their likelihood of losing claims in the Fair Work Commission, a workplace lawyer says.
Resigning may well have been the right decision for an employee who didn't trust HR to take her workplace complaints seriously, according to the Fair Work Commission, but this didn't mean the employer's conduct forced her hand.
An employer that failed to take any steps to review its procedures after a court found it engaged in unlawful adverse action has been ordered to pay an employee $30k in compensation and penalties.
A safety-critical employee, who turned up to work in an impaired and unfit state to perform his role, has failed to convince the Fair Work Commission his misconduct wasn't "serious" and he shouldn't have been summarily sacked.
All employers should consider putting in place a workplace s-xual harassment prevention plan, even though such plans are only expressly prescribed in one jurisdiction, according to a risk management expert.
Recent events have shone a spotlight on whistleblowing, placing employers firmly on notice that their response to a protected disclosure could be subject to intense scrutiny. Watch this webcast to understand the role HR plays in this challenging space.
