A Queensland council paid $2.35 million to a former employee last year. Not for a physical injury. For a psychiatric injury caused by a fabricated email that a third party wrote in her name — and which the council failed to publicly correct. That figure is the point of this article. Employers have adjusted to the idea that psychological injury generates
An engineer with thirty years’ experience was dismissed for genuinely substandard work. Missed deadlines. Quality problems. A welding error that halted a production line. The Fair Work Commission accepted there was a valid reason to dismiss him. He won anyway — and was awarded compensation of $21,471.15 plus superannuation — because the employer had no formal performance management process and gave him
Performance Management That Holds Up: Why a Valid Reason Is Only Half the Defence Read More »
Probation is not a legal safe zone. Ending employment during probation removes unfair dismissal exposure — but not a general protections claim, a discrimination complaint, or a breach of contract. Getting the fundamentals right keeps you out of trouble. What’s the real issue? Employers routinely confuse two very different things: A contractual probation period — a creature of contract
Probation Done Properly: What Employer Obligations Under the Fair Work Act Really Mean Read More »
Performance-manage an underperformer, restructure a team or investigate a bullying complaint, and you are no longer working within employment law alone. That decision now sits inside your work health and safety duty — and a process that is perfectly lawful under the Fair Work Act can still expose you under WHS legislation. The answer is not to