Employers that erase employees' devices following terminations could be robbing themselves of valuable evidence in the event of an unfair dismissal claim, a lawyer says.
Employers appear to be taking considerable risks in the way they manage discipline and dismissals, with a lawyer warning that shortcuts often lead to more complexity and litigation, not less.
An employer has failed to block a sacked worker's reinstatement on the basis that his "proven track record of unacceptable workplace behaviour" made the employment relationship untenable.
It was "highly inappropriate" for an employee to secretly record a meeting about remarks he had made threatening his employer's reputation, the Fair Work Commission has found.
Assessing the potential risks that whistleblowers face in their organisation requires HR leaders to take a "really broad" view, a workplace lawyer stresses.
Despite having conducted a 19-month investigation, an employer needed "more robust" evidence to prove an employee deliberately tried to provoke workplace conflict, a commission has ruled.
A supervisor who referred to workers as "dumb c-nts" and failed to report a subordinate's harassment and excessive "farting" in the office has failed to prove his dismissal was unfair.
It was fair to sack an employee who regarded a code of conduct as simply a "moralistic document" rather than a "directive of expected behaviour", the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
