Mismanagement, misconduct, and misconception – five myths of dismissing employees

By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal The dismissal of an employee is possibly the single most commonly-litigated dispute...

By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal The dismissal of an employee is possibly the single most commonly-litigated dispute between employers and employees. This is hardly surprising, given that dismissal is the most significant action an employer can take with respect to an employee (except, perhaps, hiring them in...

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Social media in the workplace: where do we draw the line?

Written by Sooraj Sidhu and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal With 60% of the Australian population actively using Facebook, there...

Written by Sooraj Sidhu and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal With 60% of the Australian population actively using Facebook, there is no doubt that social media has changed the way we go about our every day. In the context of managing employees, social media has blurred the lines between public and...

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Obscene Instagram post to co-worker justified dismissal

By Sooraj Sidhu and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal The summary dismissal of a 47 year old employee at a major...

By Sooraj Sidhu and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal The summary dismissal of a 47 year old employee at a major private hospital in Sydney has been upheld by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) after finding that he sent an Instagram post “of a sexual nature” to a young nurse outside...

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Court confirms employer’s right to direct employees on sick leave

By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal When employees are absent from work on sick leave, employers often have...

By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal When employees are absent from work on sick leave, employers often have to walk a narrow line between the lawful and the unlawful. On the one hand, the employee has the right to be absent on sick leave, and interfering with that right...

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Reinstatement for bus driver dismissed for “abuse” towards management

By Sooraj Sidhu and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal A bus driver and former police officer has won reinstatement to their...

By Sooraj Sidhu and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal A bus driver and former police officer has won reinstatement to their previous role after being dismissed by his employer on-the-spot for misconduct and unsatisfactory conduct towards the General Manager. Commissioner Donna McKenna, who described the employee as an “impressive and credible witness”,...

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Dismissals: Beyond the Investigation

By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal When an employee has done the wrong thing, it is natural to...

By Alex Millman and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal When an employee has done the wrong thing, it is natural to feel aggrieved. However put-out you may be, you must always remember to step back from the situation and be objective when responding to misconduct in your business and if appropriate,...

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Reducing casual shifts – what are the risks?

By Sid Sidhu, Workplace Relations Advisor, and Emma Treherne, Principal Workplace Relations Advisor, NRA Legal If my casual employees are...

By Sid Sidhu, Workplace Relations Advisor, and Emma Treherne, Principal Workplace Relations Advisor, NRA Legal If my casual employees are not guaranteed hours, can I reduce their shifts? Often employers believe that they can reduce the hours provided to a casual employee if they are, or have been, causing issues within...

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Controversial conversation in a cafe

By Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal A café supervisor who was dismissed for calling his manager a ‘racist...

By Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal A café supervisor who was dismissed for calling his manager a ‘racist b****’ has been awarded a to-be-determined amount of compensation by the Fair Work Commission. The case highlights how the particular circumstances in which an action was taken can drastically change the...

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Surveillance in the workplace (and when it goes wrong)

By Alexander Millman and Angela Szczepanski, NRA Legal  Ms Shahin Tavassoli v Bupa Aged Care Mosman A recent case reminds employers...

By Alexander Millman and Angela Szczepanski, NRA Legal  Ms Shahin Tavassoli v Bupa Aged Care Mosman A recent case reminds employers that care must be taken when relying on evidence obtained from workplace surveillance to dismiss an employee, and the need to afford employees procedural fairness even when it appears to...

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Dismissal of pregnant worker deemed adverse action

by Angela Szczepanski and Sid Sidhu, NRA Legal Mahajan v Burgess Rawson & Associates Pty Ltd FCCA 1560 The Federal...

by Angela Szczepanski and Sid Sidhu, NRA Legal Mahajan v Burgess Rawson & Associates Pty Ltd FCCA 1560 The Federal Circuit Court has ruled in favour of an employee after hearing that her commercial real estate employer, Burgess Rawson and Associates Pty Ltd, had dismissed the pregnant worker for taking...

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Email misconduct dismissal upheld

by Sid Sidhu and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Georgia Sologinkin v Cosmetic Suppliers Pty Ltd T/A Coty FWC 1838 An...

by Sid Sidhu and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Georgia Sologinkin v Cosmetic Suppliers Pty Ltd T/A Coty FWC 1838 An employee who made highly offensive comments about numerous clients of the company was found to have been fairly dismissed by the Fair Work Commission (FWC), earlier last month. The accounts manager,...

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Employer forced to pay employee for ‘harsh’ porn dismissal

Written by Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal On 24 April 2017 the New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission...

Written by Alex Millman and Troy Wild, NRA Legal On 24 April 2017 the New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission awarded compensation to a State employee who had been fired after pornographic emails, including images of naked children, were found in her work email account. The employer argued that the employee...

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Rushed redundancies fall flat

by Meaghan Spencer and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Staples Australia Pty Ltd has come under fire after Fair Work Commissioner...

by Meaghan Spencer and Troy Wild, NRA Legal Staples Australia Pty Ltd has come under fire after Fair Work Commissioner Ian Cambridge determined that the company had an “unduly hasty and largely tokenistic” approach to meeting its redundancy obligations. In July last year, Staples tried to address a one million dollar...

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Company forced to reinstate disobedient cleaner

by Meaghan Spencer, Workplace Advisor, NRA Legal Company forced to reinstate cleaner despite dismissal not being unjust A contracting company has...

by Meaghan Spencer, Workplace Advisor, NRA Legal Company forced to reinstate cleaner despite dismissal not being unjust A contracting company has been ordered by the Fair Work Commission (FWC) to redeploy one of its cleaners whom the company summarily dismissed after he refused to wear his uniform as part of an...

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Dismissals can be stressful and risky

by Angela Szczepanski, Senior Associate, NRA Legal Dismissing an employee can be stressful and is often quoted as the 'worst...

by Angela Szczepanski, Senior Associate, NRA Legal Dismissing an employee can be stressful and is often quoted as the 'worst part of running a business'. As well as the emotional context, it can be a long and timely process to ensure due process is followed. In particular, special care needs to...

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Are You Ready for Business Christmas Functions?

With the festive season rapidly approaching, businesses are gearing up for Christmas work functions, but as we all know...

With the festive season rapidly approaching, businesses are gearing up for Christmas work functions, but as we all know alcohol and employment don’t necessary pair well. When things get ‘out of hand’ at a Christmas party the ‘hangover’ for employers can last well beyond the morning after. We all know...

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