A wholefood store that summarily dismissed a chef after a three-day absence for cancer treatment has failed to establish that he abandoned his employment, the FWC slamming its "extraordinarily heartless disregard".
In a penalty decision ordering the local arm of a global conglomerate to pay a further $20,000 to a supervisor unlawfully sacked by an HR manager within her probationary period, a court has cited the company's failure to find out more about the contravening conduct and whether it needed to minimise the risk of it reoccurring.
An employer who failed to record a worker's serial misconduct, provide a written warning or give him an opportunity to respond nevertheless did not deny him a fair go when forcing him to resign following a brief lunch room meeting, the FWC has found.
The FWC has reproached a childcare provider for failing to inform a worker that her past experience in a violent relationship was a "relevant" factor in its decision to dismiss her after she challenged a co-worker to a fight.
A former Esso union delegate who was found to be unfairly dismissed for calling a co-worker a "f___ing scab" has failed to convince an FWC Full Bench that he should be reinstated.
An Aboriginal night patrol officer sacked for timesheet discrepancies has won back his council role after an FWC member took into account "very strong" ties to his remote community and the dearth of alternative employment opportunities.
An academic has welcomed a significant FWC full bench finding that a worker's refusal to participate in fingerprint scanning did not justify his dismissal and warns that many employers lack awareness of their legal obligations and the potential consequences of biometric technology.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a Telstra business centre's IT technician accused of supplying drugs, accessing p-rnography, sending the director's confidential documents outside the company and remotely locking the entire workplace out of the network during an investigation into his conduct.
