It was "extraordinarily insensitive" to tell an employee to be "inclusive of all opinions", including racist ones, the Fair Work Commission has found in unfair dismissal proceedings.
Dismissing an employee because he wouldn't agree to his image or voice being shared on social media, unless he was paid extra for it, amounted to unlawful adverse action, the Federal Circuit Court has ruled.
Adopting a new approach to conflict management, and embedding alternative dispute resolution practices in everyday leadership, has helped an employer reduce its formal grievances by almost half, its HR leader says.
The way a manager responded to misconduct allegations gave his employer "no reason to hope" he would comply with its code of conduct in future, a commission has found in rejecting his unfair dismissal claim.
An employer has unsuccessfully tried to block a s-xual harassment dispute, arguing it had no utility because it was lodged by a former employee it would "never" hire again, and who had also filed a claim in the Australian Human Rights Commission.
It was reasonably foreseeable that accommodating an employee's preferred rostering arrangement would prompt similar requests from other workers, potentially causing an employer to suffer "significant" efficiency and productivity losses, the Fair Work Commission has found.
An employee made "unparticularised, untrue and potentially defamatory allegations" against her manager in a bid to stop her performance management process, the Federal Circuit Court has found.
Reducing a casual employee's shifts amounted to a dismissal, and denying her an opportunity to respond to the decision rendered it harsh, unjust and unreasonable, the Fair Work Commission has found.
After initially throwing out his claim, the Fair Work Commission has found a mentally unwell employee was dismissed when his employer accepted his resignation, and that his circumstances made this "unquestionably harsh".
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.