IME reports only as good as the questions asked
Doctors rarely elaborate on questions by choice, so if employers want detail from an independent medical examiner's report they should be prepared to work for it, a lawyer says. » more »
Investigations & procedural fairness (234 items)
"Sensible" dismissal process a lesson for all employers
An organisation's "sensible" dismissal of a long-serving employee who breached its drug and alcohol policy serves as a lesson for all employers, according to a workplace lawyer. » more »
"Mixed message" performance meetings were unreasonable
An employer has been found liable for an employee's psychological injuries, after it gave her "mixed messages" about her performance and attendance. » more »
Workplace outburst didn't warrant summary dismissal
The Fair Work Commission has described as "perplexing" an HR manager's decision to continue a disciplinary meeting after an employee became emotional, and then sack her as she walked out the door. » more »
"Insensitive" investigation letters didn't breach duty of care
Two investigation letters, sent to an employee after a workplace assault, aggravated her psychiatric injuries but didn't amount to a duty of care breach, an appeal court has ruled. » more »
Online misconduct requires broad disciplinary response
Employers that refer to the broader organisational impacts of social media misconduct when deciding on disciplinary responses might be better placed to defend their actions, an employment lawyer says. » more »
FWC slams employer for "severely flawed" redundancies; and more
The Fair Work Commission has admonished an employer for the "astonishingly fast" and "grossly deficient" steps it took in making 12 roles redundant. » more »
HR officer's poor performance didn't warrant hasty dismissal
An employer has been ordered to compensate an HR officer for unfair dismissal, after the Fair Work Commission found it was too quick to sack her for poor performance. » more »
Misconduct dismissals: Out-of-hours scuffle, road rage incident, theft, and more
The Fair Work Commission has ordered two employers to compensate employees they sacked for serious misconduct after conducting flawed investigations, and has found another two employers fairly dismissed employees for aggressive behaviour. » more »
"Misconceived" HR advice led to invalid dismissal
An employer has been ordered to reinstate an injured worker it sacked for being unfit for work, after its HR manager provided the CEO with "misconceived" advice. » more »
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