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Pregnant employee with severe morning sickness – discrimination claims rejected by VCAT

Leave entitlements can be a tricky business for employers, particularly when the employee is an expectant mum – and, after a recent tribunal ruling, especially if the pregnant employee has…

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CEO swears at and dismisses employee – ruled as ‘unfair’ by Fair Work

A small business owner was found to have unfairly dismissed an employee after telling her to “f-ck off”. The Fair Work Commission ruled that the female employee was unfairly dismissed…

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Name too foreign-sounding? Perceived ethnic origins can influence recruitment processes, study finds

A recent study finds French job applicants with foreign-sounding names are much less likely to get callbacks from recruiters. Researchers from the Paris School of Economics and Stanford University sent…

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Rude text accidentally sent to boss: how to avoid poisonous office relationships

A dismissed employee has failed to convince the Fair Work Commission that an accidentally-sent text to her employer, in which she called him a “complete d-ck”, was a “lighthearted insult”.…

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Fisticuffs, the sack and legal action after homophobic remarks – mediate before it’s too late

Fisticuffs, the sack and legal action after homophobic remarks – mediate before it’s too late An employer has had an expensive and time-consuming trip to the Fair Work Commission after…

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Anger management: Jeremy Clarkson and the end of “angry man”- how the workplace is changing

Angry men like Jeremy Clarkson are no longer welcome in today’s workplace, or so it appears. As Amelia McGuinness observes, “no matter how much the public loves you, the myth of…

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Bullying round the clock: how out-of-hours social media activity can be a risk for employers

A recent Fair Work Commission Full Bench decision has further clarified when out-of-hours social media activity can constitute workplace bullying. Both port operator DP World and the Maritime Union of…

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Explicit phone porn: procedural investigation errors foil dismissal of sales manager

A company had a valid reason for sacking its sales manager, including the post-employment discovery of pornographic images on his mobile phone, but “substantial” procedural deficiencies made the dismissal unfair,…

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6 productivity tips: the link between leadership behaviour and performance

Building effective teams and ensuring performance and productivity is a function of leadership behaviour and communication, as is demonstrated by the following tips from both established and rising business leaders.…

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