In returning a worker to her job and restoring most of her lost pay, finding the policy the worker breached "might make sense to copyright lawyers and some IT specialists, but probably no one else" the FWC has cautioned that "employer policy documents and manuals must be accessible, understandable and reasonable in their terms".
An employer alleging a "rogue" HR contractor's misconduct robbed it of a chance to defend a supervisor's unfair dismissal claim has failed to convince the FWC to revoke a decision that left it with a $34,000 compensation bill.
In considering the case of a worker sacked for failing to tell his employer about his licence suspension and then lying about it, a NSW IRC member has found that his length of service "'cuts both ways' – the longer an employee’s period of service, the more they can be expected to be aware of the conduct expected of them by their employer".
A Jetstar maintenance supervisor who referred to colleagues as "dumb c-nts" and tried to destroy the credibility of a complaining subordinate by revealing he was overtly flatulent and openly rubbed his p-nis at work has failed to establish that his sacking involved double standards or unfairness.
The FWC has ordered the reinstatement of a construction worker sacked on the basis of a clutch of "confected" claims that included alleged commuting challenges after losing his driver's licence and his purported concealment of firearms and pornography charges.
"Similarities" with the case of a worker awarded compensation after being shown the door for missing a COVID-19 vaccination deadline have not been enough to persuade the FWC that a public utility unfairly dismissed an employee when it denied him a chance to wait for a Novavax jab.
The FWC has ordered a Serco supervisor and corrections officers to front a hearing of an unfair dismissal claim of a prison canine handler who accuses the company of sacking him to cover up the allegedly cruel treatment of a dog that had to have its tail amputated.
A 63-year-old worker's summary "time theft" sacking has been upheld after the FWC ruled that his multinational employer's HR team lacked the firepower to argue its case against a union's experienced industrial advocate.
As Telstra next week prepares to defend a Federal Court class action on behalf of employees who refused to comply with its COVID-19 vaccination policy, the FWC has held that it met consultation requirements and "bent over backwards" to ensure fairness before sacking a worker with a moral objection to being jabbed.
A manager's email to a client suggesting a listed company might be overcharging almost $70,000 a month constituted a valid dismissal reason, as did sending a confidential document to a former employee even though it was discovered post-sacking, the FWC has held.
