Concern grows about sacked workers being reinstated by Fair Work Australia…

A tradesman was dismissed after an onsite altercation with a number of the client’s employees who had entered the building site in an unsafe manner.   It was alleged the tradesman was abusive and used foul language and his employer sacked him for serious and wilful misconduct.  Fair Work Australia found that the tradesman was within his right to reprimand the client’s employees for not respecting the construction sites OH&S rules.  And that there was little evidence of abuse although everyone agreed that foul language was used.  The commissioner ruled that the circumstances and the use of foul language on a building site was not unusual and be seen against the backdrop of the safety breach.  The tradesman’s dismissal was found to have been harsh and it was ordered he be re-instated to the same job on the same site plus he was awarded back pay. 

In this case there is fault all around however a poor investigation without due care and attention to the circumstances resulted in a hasty and harsh dismissal.  Fair Work Australia has chosen to reinstate an employee into what must be an acrimonious atmosphere which could have been avoided with better procedures.