Investigations & procedural fairness | Page 52 (584 items)

An employer that followed a clause in its enterprise agreement "in form rather than substance" when investigating alleged misconduct took an approach that could "only be described as procedurally unfair", the FWC has ruled.

An employee who was subjected to "such a vehement and vitriolic dressing down" from his manager that he became unfit for work has failed to convince the Federal Court that the incident, and his employer's failure to properly investigate it, constituted adverse action and breached his employment contract.

An employer's restrained approach to disciplining a worker was "commendable", the Fair Work Commission has ruled, while noting courts are more often "critical and sometimes scathing" of HR practices.

Complaints against company heads put HR professionals in the tricky position of investigating the person they usually receive instructions from, so "you need to be a bit careful about how you play it", warns a specialist lawyer.

Do you know which policies, procedures and contracts need reviewing, in light of recent legislative and case law developments? Watch this webcast to understand how the employment law landscape has changed in relation to bullying, adverse action, employment contracts, investigations and more.

A large employer that failed to fully engage its HR department in important investigations of safety breaches has been ordered to reinstate two employees.

An employer that failed to comply with its own harassment policy must pay damages to an employee, but according to an employment law specialist, the liability should have been a simple one to avoid.

In a decision that contains useful guidance for HR professionals on when "undesirable" management behaviour is also "unreasonable", the Fair Work Commission has ruled that displaying intolerance or low-level anger towards a worker does not necessarily constitute bullying.

Turning up to a conference still intoxicated from a work function the night before did not constitute gross misconduct by an executive, a court has ruled in awarding him nearly $300,000 in damages.

An employer has successfully fended off a $9 million damages claim, with a court finding its employment contracts allowed summary dismissal of a worker based on an "opinion" that he had engaged in misconduct.