An employee's "naïve belief" that he could unilaterally decide when he would return to his workplace was a valid reason for dismissal, but his employer's "severely flawed" process made it unfair.
Employers that tried to help employees during the pandemic by allowing them to take personal/carer's leave are now at risk of having to re-credit it, a workplace lawyer warns in light of a new ruling.
An employer that unfairly dismissed an employee for taking unauthorised leave has been partially successful on appeal, reducing his compensation by more than $20k.
It was reasonable to dismiss an employee with recurring injuries who took "excessive" time off work, the Fair Work Commission has accepted. Also in this article, a roundup of recent rulings on procedural unfairness, a psych injury, and more.
Sacking an employee on sick leave without warning and via text was "extraordinarily callous and unnecessarily harsh", the Fair Work Commission has found in awarding her $21k in compensation.
A Fair Work Commissioner has lambasted an employer for "one of the poorest displays" of a dismissal process she has seen, involving an employee sacked for taking "unwarranted" sick leave.
Dismissing an employee who had been absent for more than two years was unfair, the Fair Work Commission has ruled, because the employer lacked evidence he would be unable to perform the inherent requirements of his role in the future.
An employee who was sacked for abandoning his employment, despite his employer knowing he was certified unfit for work, has been awarded maximum compensation for unfair dismissal.
An employer had a valid reason to sack a sick employee for failing to attend three consecutive shifts without consent, but its haste in doing so made the dismissal unfair.
The Fair Work Commission has rejected arguments that an employer could avoid paying a sacked manager in lieu of notice because he was receiving workers' compensation at the time.
The laws around engaging casual and contract workers have changed drastically this year. Understand how this affects your organisation by attending this HR Daily webinar.
It's always important to review and update employment contracts, but this is especially so following the raft of legislative changes over the past year. Watch this HR Daily Premium webcast to learn key areas to look out for.