There's a "relatively high threshold" that employers need to meet when taking disciplinary action against an employee for out-of-hours misconduct, a workplace lawyer says.
A Fair Work Commission Deputy President was wrong to state that an employer had to demonstrate a risk of impairment when dismissing a worker who failed a dr-g test, but this didn't affect his overall finding that the sacking was harsh, a full bench has ruled.
A full bench of the Fair Work Commission has set out some minimum requirements for a workplace D&A policy to be considered "intelligible" to the relevant employees, in dismissing an employer's reinstatement appeal.
More than a year after the High Court ruled Qantas took unlawful adverse action against 1,700 of its former employees, the Federal Court has awarded one of them $100k in compensation for non-economic loss alone.
An employee sacked for serious misconduct had no basis to argue a Fair Work Commissioner made inaccurate findings about her or denied her procedural fairness, a full bench has ruled.
"Simple life experience" should have taught an employee not to bully and humiliate his co-worker, according to the Fair Work Commission, but a lack of evidence that he was trained in workplace policies meant his dismissal was harsh.
It was "highly inappropriate" for a worker's paid agent to pursue a general protections claim that had no prospects of success, but the Fair Work Commission says the employer's $80k legal bill appears "excessive".
It might have been unreasonable to make further demands of an employee who had already complied with his employer's absence notification system, but this didn't amount to bullying, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
An employee who was only available to work on a day her employer closed its business was 'dismissed', the Fair Work Commission has ruled, allowing her general protections claim to proceed.
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.
