HR managers need to understand how industrial instruments and relevant legislation affect disciplinary matters before tricky situations arise, says Alison Page, a legal advisor to Wise Workplace Investigations.
A Victorian employee who was sacked without notice for breaching her employer's "backbiting policy" was unfairly dismissed, Fair Work Australia has ruled, describing the policy as "an extremely blunt instrument".
Workplace sexual-harassment policies could be subject to new scrutiny under upcoming equal opportunity legislation, according to lawyers from DLA Phillips Fox.
A senior employee whose performance was never assessed to determine whether she was eligible for a bonus has been awarded $74,000 in damages after a court confirmed her employment agreement was breached.
The Queensland Industrial Relations Court has rejected a nurse's claim that a "sudden" secondment to a different ward constituted unreasonable management action.
A government department that caught a senior employee accessing pornography on a work laptop at home, and out of work hours, did not breach privacy laws, the Federal Court has found.
Extensive, pre-prepared suitable-duties lists have helped a major Australian employer to dramatically reduce the amount of time it loses to injuries each year.
2010 was an interesting year for HR professionals - the economy was in recovery-mode, but this brought with it the challenge of how to quickly boost depleted teams and motivate disengaged staff to better performance. The remaining provisions of the Fair Work Act came into effect, adding a whole layer of uncertainty to HR's responsibilities, along with new legal risks.
What should you do when an employee doesn't want a bullying allegation investigated? How prescriptive should your Christmas party memos be? What role should senior leaders take at celebrations? Lawyer Joydeep Hor answers these questions and more.
A Sydney worker who defied an instruction from his supervisor has failed to convince Fair Work Australia his conduct did not warrant dismissal because of his supervisor's rude, bullying tone.
General protections claims are the fastest-growing category of applications in the Fair Work Commission, with reforms now underway to stem the tide. This webinar will discuss important developments in both procedural issues and case law.
