An FWC majority finding that an Uber delivery driver could not bring an unfair dismissal claim as she was an independent contractor highlights a need for legislative intervention to recognise that many gig workers are employees, says a leading employment law academic.
A senior manager on a $240,000 annual remuneration package has failed to convince the FWC he is an award-covered employee protected from unfair dismissal.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a hospital operating theatre cleaner who spent 44% of his working time, excluding breaks, in a tea room, but has scolded the employer for its "faintly ridiculous" arguments against allowing him to "meticuously review" damning CCTV footage.
In a decision clarifying how the FWC deals with unresolved matters in which the applicant has died, the tribunal has wound up a 20-month-old unfair dismissal case after determining that only executors of a claimant's estate can discontinue it.
A court has given a publicly-listed veterinary pharmaceutical company the go-ahead to pursue its former chief executive for a significant portion of more than US$400,000 paid to settle assault and s-x discrimination cases brought by two members of its marketing team.
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a veteran Qantas engineer who slapped a flight attendant on the bottom and said he caused a mechanical issue so he could ask her out, rejecting his claim assault allegations should have required a higher burden of proof.
A permanent security guard who believed his resignation letter made it clear that he was switching to casual employment has failed to establish that he was unfairly sacked.
The FWC has rejected a lawyer's bid for a two-year extension to file an unfair dismissal claim on the basis of psychiatric decline, finding his leadership role at another firm suggested a different reality.
A senior FWC member says the tribunal cannot issue interim anti-bullying orders merely because there is a serious question to be tried, while it has made it clear to a worker that such an order is not a tool to prevent her dismissal until her matter is determined.
