A recent Fair Work Australia decision has shown just how important it is for managers to lead by example on safety, and how costly it can be for employers if they don't.
An engineer who was required to attend a work-related dinner - where alcoholic drinks were served - and failed a urine test the following morning was rightly dismissed, Fair Work Australia has ruled.
NSW employer Dairy Farmers did everything in its power to ensure staff understood its code of conduct and email policy, Fair Work Australia has ruled, in finding seven employees were rightly sacked for distributing inappropriate emails.
Changes to company safety policies must be "clearly and openly communicated" to all employees before they can take effect, Fair Work Australia has ruled, in reinstating a speeding worker who was dismissed under a policy he denied knowledge of.
Notices issued to workers disputing their workers' comp entitlements must be written in "clear and unambiguous language", the NSW WCC has stressed in awarding ongoing compensation to an injured worker who was dismissed for stealing.
In a case that upholds an employer's right to dismiss workers for misconduct that jeopardises their safety, Fair Work Australia has quashed a ruling that played down the seriousness of a worker's safety breach.
Injured NSW workers who are dismissed because of their condition are entitled to seek reinstatement through the State Industrial Relations Commission - even if their application has been rejected by a federal tribunal, a judge has ruled.
