Employees must establish a clear nexus between their obligations as parents of school-age children and their desired working arrangements, rather than simply rely on their parenting status, if they expect to win disputes over flexible work refusals, a new ruling shows.
An employer has failed to prove that it didn't dismiss a worker when it repeatedly refused her requests for part-time work after a period of parental leave.
An employee, who asked to reduce her hours when returning from parental leave, did not effectively resign when she indicated that she wouldn't return to a full-time position, the Fair Work Commission has found.
After defending its denial of a flexible work request on reasonable business grounds, an employer must now implement the arrangements sought, because its written refusal didn't satisfy the Fair Work Act's requirements.
After being ordered to pay $90k in damages for discriminating against a breastfeeding worker, an employer now must also introduce anti-discrimination training for its managers.
The Fair Work Commission has cleared an employee to pursue her unfair dismissal claim, rejecting it was a genuine redundancy decision that simply coincided with her planned parental leave.
Changes to a manager's work arrangements amounted to "reasonable give and take" in the employment relationship, and didn't force him to resign, the Fair Work Commission has found.
When an employee nearing the end of her parental leave was removed from her employer's systems and told current staffing levels were "sufficient", she was effectively dismissed, the Fair Work Commission has found.
In calling out an employer for failing to consult an employee about her redundancy, the Fair Work Commission has stressed the importance of having "some form of 'keeping in touch' system" during parental leave.
Rejecting an employee's flexible work request based on a perception that he would be distracted by his child and not responsive enough to customers was not reasonable, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
Costly legal disputes continue to highlight the many risks employers face when managing, disciplining, or dismissing employees while they are absent, injured or incapacitated. Attend this webinar for an up-to-date review of the legal framework applying to workplace absenteeism, injury and incapacity, and lessons from recent case law.
