A senior FWC member in upholding a Virgin Australia ground crew worker's dismissal over pilfered cigarettes has noted that "one's fate" is often sealed by attempted cover-ups rather than the actual misconduct, further observing that the former employee did himself no favours when posting on social media that the airline's HR partner was a "despicable human being".
A council security guard ruled to have been fairly dismissed may have achieved a different outcome if he had been allowed legal representation, an FWC bench has found.
A fortnight after deciding not to take compliance action against Uber, the FWO has dropped its Federal Court action against Foodora on the basis it would be "highly unlikely" to garner additional payments for its former workforce or penalties against the company.
Uber's business model in Australia has survived another round of regulatory scrutiny, the FWO deciding not to take compliance action after determining that its drivers are not employees.
The Fair Work Ombudsman has foreshadowed a tougher approach to compliance and enforcement in 2019/20, with underpayment of workers in fast food, restaurants and cafes leading its priorities.
An experienced Qantas flight attendant who surreptitiously downed a quarter of a bottle of vodka on an 11-hour flight has failed to overturn her dismissal, with the FWC agreeing with the airline that she breached critical safety standards before trying to lie her way out of trouble.
Employers should pay close attention to their "extended workforce" before being forced to do so by increased regulation and public scrutiny, according to former Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James.
Unions have stepped up their criticism of the Morrison Government's legislation that extends to all "regular casual" workers a right to request conversion to part-time or full-time employment.
The CFMMEU will this week seek to intervene in a class action pursuing leave entitlements for thousands of Workpac's on-hire casual black coal mine workers, at a hearing expected to also deal with the company's bid to block another casual, Robert Rossato, from winning entitlements.
The FWC has told an employer that it must accept responsibility for a "suboptimal" workplace culture that it could have reset before sacking two senior wharf workers who verbally abused a female colleague, but it upheld their dismissals for behaviour that "crossed the line".
