In a landmark decision that will send tremors through the gig economy, the FWC has found that a former Foodora rider was an employee capable of being sacked, rather than an independent contractor as held by the delivery platform.
An FWC member has lambasted a council for numerous "missteps" in its dismissal of an Aboriginal night patrol officer, recommending it review its processes and advice received from an HR consultancy.
A senior FWC member has highlighted continuing difficulties faced by unrepresented applicants in distinguishing between the unfair dismissal and general protections jurisdictions, allowing a casual worker's claim to proceed despite him filing it a week late.
The FWC has spelt out the perils of supervisors expressing feelings for subordinates in a case where an engineer claimed she was unfairly dismissed after rejecting advances from a colleague who wanted to "get into her pants".
An employer has fended off an unfair dismissal claim by establishing that he did not sack a receptionist in a series of heated exchanges, but that she left based on her perception that he did.
Labour hire company Spinifex Recruiting has again come under fire for its reliance on a "misnamed" temporary employment agreement, with an FWC full bench rejecting its argument that it did not dismiss a casual worker because its client merely exercised its discretion to terminate her assignment.
The FWC has held that a supervisor's demotion to a job "on the tools" with a 9% pay cut was in fact a dismissal, rejecting employer submissions that it was allowed under his contract or via a "notorious" unwritten term.
Class action law firm Adero says it believes labour supplier One Key Workforce wound up owing more than 2000 mineworkers on casual contracts far more than the $38 million sum estimated by administrators, as it prepares to file a claim holding its parent company liable as their "true employer".
In an important interlocutory ruling, the Federal Court has today restrained mining giant BHP Coal from stopping a reinstated labour hire mineworker returning to the job at its Bowen Basin coal mine.
