Compliance & case law | Page 15 (2,355 items)

Fixed-term contract restrictions have been a challenging reform to manage, but employers can take some comfort from the decisions handed down in disputes lodged so far, a workplace lawyer says in our latest Q&A.

A "mountain of evidence" from colleagues about an employee's behaviour at work has undermined his appeal against misconduct findings.

After being ordered to reinstate an employee sacked for physical violence, an employer has failed to convince a Fair Work Commission full bench that the earlier decision applied the wrong legal test for self-defence.

The Fair Work Commission has confirmed that it can't arbitrate a flexible work dispute about a request that was made one month before the employee met the eligibility criteria.

Emails to an HR practitioner showed an employee appreciated his help in facilitating her retirement, and not that she was "forced down a path she did not want to take", the Fair Work Commission has found.

The Fair Work Commission has rejected that an employee was unfairly dismissed for physically assaulting a coworker, despite flaws in the termination process and the overall harshness of the decision.

Covertly applying for a job with an employer's client didn't breach an employee's contractual restraint, but it was nonetheless misconduct that warranted her dismissal, the Fair Work Commission has found.

Engaging an external contractor didn't undermine an employer's genuine redundancy defence to an unfair dismissal claim, the Fair Work Commission has found, rejecting there were any signs of a "sham".

Ernst & Young has defended terminating a senior partner who was charged with assault after hours spent drinking with staff and clients, on the basis his conduct was likely to harm the firm's interests.

One of the biggest lessons so far from the Fair Work Commission's arbitration of flexible work disputes is that employers must engage in meaningful dialogue with workers who are seeking new arrangements, a lawyer says.