An employer decided to make an employee's role redundant three months before it consulted with her, the Fair Work Commission has found, in ordering it to pay $19k for unfair dismissal.
General protections breaches "should never be treated as an acceptable risk of doing business", a Federal Circuit Court judge has stressed, in awarding about $90k to "a most difficult and challenging employee".
Too many organisations are undermining their future workforce capability by making staff cuts that are too deep, or simply not strategic, according to a leading HR advisor.
A full Federal Court ruling affirms there's a low threshold for what triggers the corporate whistleblower regime, and workplace lawyers say it provides "authoritative guidance" on how employers can discharge their reverse onus of proof.
Organisations making urgent lay-offs must still comply with their consultation requirements, the Fair Work Commission has highlighted, in rejecting that an employer had no time to consult before making a role redundant.
Even if it's impossible for an employer to change a decision about planned redundancies, it must comply with its consultation obligations, a workplace lawyer says. Meanwhile, an enterprise bargaining specialist says it's never been more crucial for employers to have skilled negotiators at the table.
A people and culture team "singularly failed" to meet with an employee in a timely manner to discuss his redeployment opportunities, meaning his redundancy wasn't genuine, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
Employers are now firmly on notice that when they're considering a major workplace change, they need to assess the risk of psychosocial hazards potentially arising from it, a lawyer says.
The Federal Court has rejected both the "bland explanation" an employee received for his dismissal and his employer's later argument that he was underperforming, finding instead that he was sacked for exercising a workplace right.
Workplace bullying complaints continue to pose significant challenges for employers, including where the behaviour doesn't meet the legal definition of bullying or the threshold to make a claim. Watch this HR Daily Premium webcast to understand key lessons from cases where bullying complaints interact with other claims and issues.
What constitutes "best practice" when managing neurodiversity at work is evolving all the time. Watch this HR Daily Premium webcast to learn how to embed neuroinclusive practices into HR programs and every stage of the employment lifecycle.
