Contributory misconduct reductions in unfair dismissal remedies

"When an attempt to conciliate an unfair-dismissal claim fails, arbitration\nmay be called upon to determine whether the dismissal was fair or unfair.\nIn the event that the dismissal is deemed unfair, Australia’s federal industrial\ntribunal can reduce the amount of compensation ordered for the worker if\ntheir conduct contributed to the dismissal. This article offers original insights\nabout the application of contributory-misconduct provisions to unfair-dismissal\nremedies by Australia’s federal industrial tribunal. A content analysis was\nperformed on arbitration decisions concerning misconduct-related dismissals\nmade between July 2000 and June 2010 that awarded a remedy to the worker.\nIt was found that reductions to remedies were more highly associated with\nsituations where employees engaged in production deviance, had longer\nservice histories, and apologised for their behaviour. Within the 33 decisions\nthat recorded a reduction to the remedy, three typical remedy discounts were\nidentified: reduced back pay, no back pay, or part reductions to compensation.\nIt is concluded that in broad terms, the reductions may provide some sense of\nrestorative justice to the organisation in finalising an unfair-dismissal dispute.\nHowever, these reductions may have less meaning to individual victims where\nthe worker’s misconduct involved acts of inter-personal deviance."