The FWC on rehearing a yard hand's dismissal application has observed his employer's lack of HR expertise did not wash as an excuse for the "disgraceful and grossly unfair" sacking, but slashed compensation due to his vulgar language and propensity to snap when frustrated.
In a significant decision affecting those in temporary government roles, the FWC has found a Federal department failed to recognise it was dismissing a "non-ongoing" employee when it informed him that repeated instances of disrespectful behaviour meant he would not be offered further work.
In a case in which classroom allergy management has intersected with IR laws, the FWC has reinstated an infants teacher summarily dismissed for allegedly breaching her duty of care when she gave an "unsafe" chocolate to a pupil, after checking its ingredients.
The ripples from a recent decision upsetting the authority on outer limits contract workers pursuing unfair dismissal claims have reached another jurisdiction, with the WA IR Commission ordering the reinstatement of a septuagenarian school traffic warden who had been "taken advantage" of by the employer.
The FWC has praised Australia Post subsidiary Startrack Express for its flawless process in dismissing an employee who "crossed a line" from tolerable crudity to unacceptable racism in his remarks to colleagues.
A large employer's failure to tell an employee what claims were being investigated before conducting a recorded interview was among a number of flaws identified by the FWC in a procedurally "infected" dismissal.
A bus company must reinstate a driver it dismissed on the spot, after CCTV footage undermined claims that he shouted at his general manager and behaved unreasonably after a meeting about his forcible ejection of a highly abusive would-be passenger.
Bench says employer's "bland" description no help to BOOT assessment; FWC takes chainsaw to gardener's sacking; and Tribunal rejects bid to require witness to appear in person.
An administration manager sacked for being a "lying thief" has been awarded compensation of more than $13,000 after the FWC found instead that she had likely been made a scapegoat for a business's alleged attempt to commit insurance fraud.
