Australia: Swearing at the boss: is it always a sackable offense?

In a recent decision by the Fair Work Commission, Deputy President Wells found against the company that summarily dismissed an employee for abusing the managing director of the company. The company was an SME and the managing director and the garbage truck driver were having a telephone conversation which got heated. In the course of that conversation, the employee said to the managing director:-

“You dribble s#*t, you always dribble f#*$ing s#*t”.

The company proceeded to […]

By | March 1st, 2015 ||

United States: NJ Supreme Court Limits Employer Vicarious Liability In Harassment Cases; Expands Definition Of Supervisor Under NJLAD

After more than 15 years, New Jersey employers finally have a response to the previously unanswered question of whether the affirmative defense established by the United States Supreme Court for harassment cases under Title VII in Burlington Industries v. Ellerth and Faragher v. City of Boca Raton is applicable to the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (NJLAD).

In Aguas v. State of New Jersey, decided on February 11, 2015, the New Jersey Supreme Court answered […]

By | February 27th, 2015 ||

UK: ONS Announce That 1.8 Million Workers Have Zero Hours Contracts

The Office of National Statistics has found that 1.8 million workers were employed by UK companies using zero hours contracts last summer; with additional data showing that nearly 700,000 employees had zero hours contracts between October-December 2014. This amounts to 2.3% of the UK workforce.

A zero hours contract is traditionally used for casual working, it does not guarantee the worker with work and pays a worker only for the work that they have actually […]

By | February 27th, 2015 ||