An employee has won maximum compensation for unfair dismissal after the Fair Work Commission found an HR "cowboy" failed to genuinely consult her during a redundancy process.
Unfair dismissal rulings from 2020 hold many lessons for employers for the year ahead, not least among which is the importance of shoring up genuine redundancy defences, lawyers say.
The High Court has refused to hear an employer's redundancy-exception appeal, while unions are calling for the "loophole" to be closed. Also in this article, government guides for mentally healthier workplaces; new research on underpayments; and more.
HR's challenges around remote and flexible working will continue to develop in 2021, while compliance is an area that "will come back with a vengeance", an employment lawyer says.
A recruitment company used a stand-down direction to force a state manager to resign, so it could avoid paying her contractual entitlement to three months' notice, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
An employer has failed to argue it "broadly complied" with redundancy consultation obligations, with the Fair Work Commission saying the steps it took could "never constitute meaningful consultation".
A redeployment offer that added nearly two hours to an employee's daily commute was reasonable, the Fair Work Commission has ruled in reducing his redundancy pay. Also in this article: a roundup of recent dismissal cases; and other compliance developments.
The way employers handle redundancies and restructures now will have a lasting impact on whether their "survivors" continue to be engaged and productive, a specialist says.
The Fair Work Commission has, in finding an employee was unfairly dismissed, reminded employers that redundancy consultation should be "substantive" and "not merely perfunctory".
An employee had an 'unrealistic' expectation that her employer should have delayed making her role redundant until after her parental leave, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
