Browsing: WHS decisions (National) | Page 6

The Federal Court has highlighted the important WHS function of escorting entry permit holders around sites, in handing penalties to a union and one of its officials for right-of-entry breaches.

An employer has been ordered to reinstate and compensate a worker it dismissed after he had spinal surgery, after an independent medical examiner's advice led to it wrongly concluding he could no longer perform his role safely.

A commission has upheld the dismissal of a worker for taking medicinal cannabis on his days off, finding his conduct was compounded by his failure to update his employer on his changing medicinal regime.

A commission full bench has quashed a decision exculpating a worker of sackable misconduct in engaging in a scuffle with a member of the public, in an important decision examining the test to be applied when a worker claims self-defence.

A commission has refused a worker stop-bullying orders in a case providing "lessons" on change management failures, which previously led to an organisation losing an adverse action case and being handed a $12,000 penalty.

A commission has overturned the dismissal of a worker who neglected to report a near miss until the day after it occurred, highlighting that employers have a responsibility to help workers comply with safety obligations.

The High Court has confirmed Qantas Airways Ltd took unlawful adverse action against 1,700 ground crew workers when it outsourced their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The union that brought the case applauded the judgment, and highlighted a string of workplace safety issues that it claims arose from the outsourcing arrangement.

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A commission has agreed with an employer that the seriousness of unsafe conduct isn't assessed by reference to injury or damage but the risk created, but overturned its dismissal of a worker for a driving incident it mischaracterised as highly serious.

A court has criticised the poor WHS knowledge of an employer and its managers, finding they unlawfully forced union officials to provide a new right-of-entry notice in order to inspect a suspected safety breach they observed while investigating another safety issue.