In separate s-xual harassment cases, derogatory and hostile comments towards a female colleague warranted an employee's dismissal but the employer's procedural flaws made it unfair; and another employer has defended sacking a worker for sending explicit images to his manager.
Some key themes have emerged in unfair dismissal rulings from the past 12 months. Watch this webcast to understand developments in how the Fair Work Commission handles this area.
An employer's decision to sack a worker for serious misconduct would have been unfair were it not for facts that emerged immediately after his dismissal, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
A lack of concrete guidance on procedural fairness can make disciplinary meetings and the role of a support person challenging areas for employers to navigate. Watch this webcast to learn when to take formal versus informal approaches, best practice policy drafting considerations, and more.
An employer that sacked a worker for swearing at his colleagues has been ordered to reinstate him, with the Fair Work Commission finding a "plethora" of reasons made his dismissal unfair.
An employer that failed to investigate an employee's complaint about child p-rnography on a client's computer and refused to remove "fat photos" from a workplace collage has been ordered to compensate him for a psychological injury.
The Fair Work Commission has made stop-bullying orders against an employer and three managers who sent "unreasonable" disciplinary letters to an employee and revoked her annual leave approval.
An employer's decision to sack a worker facing indecency charges was reasonable, but it was wrong not to consider alternatives such as redeployment or unpaid leave, the Fair Work Commission has found.
When determining how to respond to news of an employee's criminal charges, employers must always bear in mind the presumption of innocence, a workplace lawyer says.