New data from the FWC has confirmed the workplace upheaval being wrought by COVID-19, with a leap in unfair dismissal applications, stand-down disputes and agreement variations in pursuit of a wage freeze or deferral.
The FWO's pursuit of penalties over a crew's "sit-in" on a decommissioned trading vessel has been potentially scuppered by a Federal Court finding that they were not covered by an agreement at the time.
The Reserve Bank must reinstate a senior network engineer who accidentally posted to a WhatsApp workplace group a racist message meant for his wife, the FWC finding its procedural failings despite HR expertise to be "simply inexplicable".
The FWC has upheld the sacking of a truck salesperson whose loud swearing was overheard by customers while already on a final warning for saying there would be "bloodshed everywhere" if his employer did not resolve his issues.
A 70-year-old childcare worker has been reinstated after a finding that she was forced to resign in the face of her the employer's "callous" direction to relocate to a distant workplace and accept a role change that involved changing nappies.
The Federal Court has rejected a disbarred lawyer's attempt to sideline a senior FWC member and the tribunal itself from hearing his unfair dismissal case, while also declining to grant "extreme" orders preventing a law firm from participating in the court proceedings.
An FWC full bench is inviting submissions by 2pm on an award variation allowing the real estate industry to disregard the COVID-19 months for commission-only employees and place a moratorium on commencing such arrangements.
Rejecting an employer's extraordinary claim that a farm manager resigned "out of spite" so she could use her FWC challenge to blackmail it into giving her a horse, the tribunal has held it unfairly dismissed her by forcing her out.
The FWC has ordered Ultra Tune to compensate a sacked senior manager considered to be the face of a "dodgy" new sales program and a "training manager who did not want to train".
The FWC has dismissed an ALAEA dispute application after finding budget airline Regional Express did not discipline an engineer whose certification remains suspended after his overly thorough defect check made it ground an aircraft.
