After responding to multiple performance and conduct concerns with only warnings and counselling, an employer has failed to convince the Fair Work Commission that it had a valid reason to opt for termination.
Despite managing a somewhat "difficult" worker with empathy, an employer unfairly failed to ensure he understood its concerns about his behaviour before sacking him, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
Despite receiving HR advice about how to handle a redundancy meeting, an employer gave a long-serving manager no prior notice of its decision and no opportunity to bring a support person, among other factors found to be unreasonable.
A senior HR advisor's disciplinary process was unnecessarily lengthy and beset with "obvious problems", but that didn't outweigh that she had breached the employer's code of conduct, a commission has ruled.
A senior HR business partner's "patently false", "unsubstantiated" and at times "misogynistic" claims have undermined his unfair dismissal case, the Fair Work Commission has chastised.
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An investigation into an employee's alleged "improper behaviour" did not align with the employer's own respectful workplace policy and was therefore "inadequate, flawed and unfair", a commission has ruled.
In "blindly" accepting an employee had verbally harassed colleagues, an HR manager unfairly deprived her of the opportunity to defend herself, the Fair Work Commission has ruled in awarding her $26k for unfair dismissal.
"Reasonable schemes reasonably implemented can miscarry without rendering them unreasonable," a commissioner has stressed, in rejecting the psychological injury claim of an employee who had a "troubling propensity for embellishment".
It's not uncommon for employees to find investigations stressful and upsetting, but this doesn't mean they're unreasonable, a Fair Work Commissioner has commented in dismissing a stop-bullying application.
