The FWC has upheld a Qube subsidiary's sacking of a truck driver who blamed a positive blood alcohol reading on sucking on three-quarters of a 10-pack of Anticol cough lozenges to counter a dry throat.
An FWC full bench, in overturning a finding that the engineers, scientists and IT professionals award does not apply to an LNG consultant, has suggested reviewing its coverage provisions after "excessive litigation" to establish whether it covers unfair dismissal applicants.
The FWC has refused to provide a two-day extension to a dismissed worker based on representative error, finding he failed to clearly instruct his union in a timely manner.
FWC Deputy President Gerard Boyce has again run afoul of a tribunal bench, which has reminded him that conduct months after a dismissal cannot be considered when deciding whether an employer has a valid reason.
A manager unfairly accused of being a "malingerer" has had his near-$900,000 unlawful sacking payout slashed on appeal, a judge finding the original ruling contained enough errors to reduce the figure but stopping short of ordering a retrial.
A presidential FWC member has clarified the circumstances under which an employee can be said to have resigned, finding that a casual pool cleaner's repeated statement of intent did not qualify.
The FWC has refused to permit the Commonwealth Bank to bring in external lawyers to help it defend an unrepresented worker's unfair dismissal claim, despite the bank claiming its team of eight in-house employment solicitors are either unavailable or lacking recent experience.
After a forensic journey through an office's coffee habits, the FWC has upheld the sacking of a worker who used her employer's café account for clients to finance her caffeine habit.
Victoria Police has lost its bid to sack an officer for "disgraceful conduct" in allegedly exposing himself to a day spa therapist while getting his groin waxed, the State's Court of Appeal this month holding its review board rightly set the dismissal decision aside.
In a decision exploring when employers can be said to have repudiated employment contracts, the FWC has ruled that a multinational dismissed a worker when it "unilaterally" withdrew his company car without compensation following a collision with a kangaroo.
