In a significant decision clarifying when the FWC can deal with unlawful dismissal matters, a four-member bench has upheld a finding that a bookstore worker alleging discrimination after being sacked for refusing to wear a mask needed to prosecute her case in court.
An experienced tribunal member failed to properly apply the statutory test for assessing unfair dismissals before ordering the reinstatement of six waterfront shift managers, a FWC full bench has found.
The FWC has cleared the way for a worker accused of "disruptive menace" and assaulting the chief executive to pursue a general protections claim against his former employer, holding it could not delegate to police the task of telling him he had been sacked.
A nurse who is contesting her sacking for allegedly donating her employer's property to a charity has won an extension of time due to representative error, after her solicitor filed her unfair dismissal application five hours after the 21-day deadline.
In a significant decision regarding the statutory meaning of "dismissed", a five-member FWC bench majority has ruled that an employer did not sack a worker when it shaved almost 10% off his annual pay for disciplinary reasons.
A FWC member has applied the "well known 'duck principle'" in holding that a tyre recycling company suspected of phoenixing unfairly sacked a worker who complained about unpaid superannuation, before threatening to kill a director.
Building on previous decisions taking a worker's mental health into account when allowing late unfair dismissal applications to proceed, the FWC has granted a time extension to a seed picker ensnared in her partner's breakdown.
In an important ruling on the NSW IRC's jurisdictional powers, the High Court has found that a since-repealed provision did not prevent the State tribunal considering a police officer's unfair dismissal case that challenged his forced retirement on medical grounds.
In a decision underlining the responsibility of workers to keep their contact details up to date, a senior FWC member has refused an unvaccinated worker's bid for a one-day extension to challenge his sacking by email on the basis he did not get the message.
