A rise in employees "weaponising" bullying allegations for strategic reasons now requires a more measured response from HR, according to an employment lawyer.
An employee's choice of support person can make the difference between a fraught process and a smooth one, but confusion abounds about what constitutes an appropriate support person, and the role they're meant to play, a lawyer says.
The Federal Court has criticised an employer that ignored a recommendation about a misconduct investigation, and instead proceeded to dismiss an employee, noting its "unfortunate" decision breached its enterprise agreement.
An employee who was threatened and assaulted by another worker has been awarded compensation for a psychological injury, after a commission found the employer's investigation into the incident was unreasonable.
An employer's "blanket rule" not to tolerate violence in any circumstances was not "valid, fair, or practicable", the Fair Work Commission has ruled, in finding an employee was unfairly sacked after a physical altercation.
A manager who was accused of domestic violence towards a work colleague has failed to prove his "very ugly" out-of-hours texts to her didn't warrant his dismissal, despite the Fair Work Commission finding his employer's process was "defective".
It was "extremely unfair" for an employer to rely on historical – and resolved – performance issues when dismissing an employee, the Fair Work Commission has ruled in awarding him maximum compensation.
An employee "blatantly" lied to his employer when he said he wasn't recording their meetings, the Fair Work Commission has found, ruling this post-dismissal discovery foiled his case.
A full bench of the Fair Work Commission has affirmed an earlier decision denying costs to an employee who won her unfair dismissal case, finding the employer's objection to her claim, at the time, had a "reasonable prospect of success".
An employee has successfully appealed a ruling that his out-of-hours misconduct warranted his dismissal, with a full Federal Court finding there was no proper consideration of procedural fairness matters.
Costly legal disputes continue to highlight the many risks employers face when managing, disciplining, or dismissing employees while they are absent, injured or incapacitated. Attend this webinar for an up-to-date review of the legal framework applying to workplace absenteeism, injury and incapacity, and lessons from recent case law.
