A redeployment offer that added nearly two hours to an employee's daily commute was reasonable, the Fair Work Commission has ruled in reducing his redundancy pay. Also in this article: a roundup of recent dismissal cases; and other compliance developments.
The way employers handle redundancies and restructures now will have a lasting impact on whether their "survivors" continue to be engaged and productive, a specialist says.
The Fair Work Commission has, in finding an employee was unfairly dismissed, reminded employers that redundancy consultation should be "substantive" and "not merely perfunctory".
An employee had an 'unrealistic' expectation that her employer should have delayed making her role redundant until after her parental leave, the Fair Work Commission has ruled.
An employer that stood down an employee in light of reduced demand for her work did so in contravention of the Fair Work Act, and has been ordered to reinstate her previous hours.
An employer that made a manager's role redundant, then sought to settle his unfair dismissal claim by offering to re-employ him, did not act unlawfully, the Fair Work Commission has found. But in another case, an employer that didn't consult with an employee beyond initial talks because it saw the task as futile has been ordered to pay him compensation.
Many redundancy decisions put on hold by JobKeeper 1.0 are now back on the agenda, and a lawyer warns that making fair, defensible decisions about who to select and why will take some careful consideration.
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