It wasn't reasonable for an employer to rely on a manager's "eyewitness" account of a workplace assault, given he then "took absolutely no action, and continued on with the working day", a commissioner has ruled.
It was unreasonable to summarily dismiss an employee for stealing food from her workplace, without unequivocal evidence that she didn't intend to pay for the items she ate, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
Ongoing punctuality and performance issues gave an employer valid reasons to dismiss an employee, but its process was flawed because she had to respond to them "on the spot", the Fair Work Commission has found.
It was "extremely harsh" to dismiss a senior manager who was taking leave due to a psychological injury, after being falsely accused of financial mismanagement, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
An employee who responded "what are you gonna do sack me", after being told not to text and drive, has won compensation for unfair dismissal in the Fair Work Commission.
Resigning may well have been the right decision for an employee who didn't trust HR to take her workplace complaints seriously, according to the Fair Work Commission, but this didn't mean the employer's conduct forced her hand.
A sacked leader "was not without her failings", but her supervisor's "managerial cowardice", in failing to raise any performance concerns with her prior to termination, made her dismissal unfair.
After falsifying timesheets and providing a "wholly unconvincing" explanation for them, an employee was ill advised to persist with his unfair dismissal claim, the Fair Work Commission has noted.
An employer proceeded with "undue haste" and insufficient evidence when it sacked an employee for breaching its D&A policy, according to the Fair Work Commission.
Despite suspecting an employee intended "two extremely inappropriate gestures" as jokes, the Fair Work Commission has ruled they justified his dismissal.
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.
