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Fair Work Australia Upholds Abuse of Sick Leave
In a recent decision of FWA, Commissioner McKenna found in favour of the employer when it terminated an employee who inappropriately claimed sick leave to visit her family interstate. Facts The applicant was engaged in August 2009 in an administrative role for a removalist company. The employer was a ‘small business employer’ for the purposes of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) (the FW Act). The applicant and the employer were based in Sydney. On 16 October 2011, the applicant was advised that her sister was getting married on 28 October 2011. The applicant booked a flight to Perth for Wednesday 26 October 2011 and returning to Sydney on Sunday 30 October 2011 in order to attend the wedding. Although the applicant had sufficient accrued annual leave, she did not make an application for annual leave to cover her absence, despite an admission by her that the employer had been acco...
26 April 2012Steward Serves Up More Than She Bargained For ...
Fair Work Australia (FWA) has recently upheld a decision to terminate an employee due to her abusive swearing and aggressive conduct. The decision confirms the ability to terminate employees for inappropriate behaviour in certain circumstances. The applicant had been employed by Qantas since 2005 as a flight attendant and at the time of termination. The applicant had previously been in a relationship with another Qantas employee who, after terminating his relationship with the applicant, entered a new relationship with the applicant’s friend who also worked at Qantas. The relationship between the three became so strained that it culminated in the applicant’s ex-partner seeking (and being granted) a temporary protection order against the applicant. On 10 June 2010, the applicant’s manager requested that the applicant attend her office to discuss a complaint received from the new partner regarding the applicant’s behav...
16 April 2012Road Safety Remuneration Bill Passes Senate
Following on from our 2 December 2011 article regarding the Road Safety Remuneration Bill 2011 (the Bill) (see related article here), we can now report that the Bill: was passed through the Senate on 21 March 2012; is awaiting royal assent; and will commence operation on 1 July 2012. An amendment to the Bill in the House of Representatives has delayed the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (the Tribunal) from hearing disputes until 1 January 2013, unless in exceptional circumstances. The delay between the commencement of the Bill and the Tribunal hearing disputes was provided to allow the Tribunal time to commence formulating work programs and to make Road Safety Remuneration Orders (RDROs) and to give industry stakeholders time to become familiar with the dispute resolution framework in the Bill. This means that from 1 July 2012, the Tribunal can inquire into sectors, issues and prac...
2 April 2012