Dismissing an employee for her "deliberate defiance" of an acknowledged direction was unreasonable, the Fair Work Commission has ruled, because she wasn't specifically warned her job was at risk if the behaviour continued.
Arguing in a vigorous and forceful way during a meeting was not the same thing as posing a serious and imminent risk to safety, the Fair Work Commission has found in ruling an employee should not have been sacked for serious misconduct.
The Fair Work Commission is treating allegations of s-xual harassment as a "very serious matter", but employers still need strong evidence and thorough processes to defend summary dismissals, a workplace lawyer says.
An overworked HR leader has won her unfair dismissal claim, with the Fair Work Commission finding summary dismissal was a disproportionate response to her allegedly unreasonable workplace behaviour.
An employer had "every right" to sack a worker who refused to update her training, but it chose not to do so, the Fair Work Commission has found in rejecting her unfair dismissal claim.
Blocking out unauthorised time in her calendar and using a "workaround" instead of established process didn't justify dismissal, but an employee went too far when she ignored policies and put clients at risk, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
It was possible an employer wasn't aware of a worker's injury when it directed him to perform a task beyond his capacity, but dismissing him for refusing was harsh and unreasonable, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
An employee who felt stressed and anxious while suspended from work made the "unfortunate decision" to "take the edge off" with cocaine, the Fair Work Commission has accepted, in upholding his dismissal for failing a D&A test.
