In a warning about the myriad ways disciplinary investigations can go wrong, the FWC has rejected virtually every finding a large government agency relied on to sack an experienced rail employee who described his dismissal meeting as a "Pearl Harbour" moment.
Support among workers for performing their duties from home, compressing their hours and job sharing has increased dramatically during COVID-19, according to university research commissioned by the FWC as it considers inserting a WFH clause in the clerical award.
After the FWC reinstated one of two truck driver TWU delegates involved in a punch-up, it has now upheld Toll's dismissal of the second driver because he lied during its investigation – a reason not relied on by the employer.
The FWC has found the MUA should have followed the NSW chief medical officer's advice to return to the docks after OHS representatives issued a "cease work" order in response to wharfies contracting COVID-19 in the early stages of the pandemic.
Working from home is here to stay and will be "more effective for all" if it is supported by formal policies, hours are "relatively fixed hours" and it is voluntary, according to one of two university studies commissioned by the FWC as it considers inserting a WFH clause in the clerks award.
A full Federal Court majority has found a judge did not deny a building contractor procedural fairness by failing to put it on notice before declaring it breached non-pleaded coercion provisions, during a meeting with undertones of The Godfather.
An employee's failure to tell her employer about an eight-hour freelance photoshoot on Channel 9's The Block did not justify its decision to issue her a formal warning, the FWC has ruled.
A SA youth worker sacked after he was deemed "psychologically unsuitable" has failed to overturn a finding that his employer had no option because of the job's inherent requirement that he pass the psychometric test.
