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 […]
What’s the real issue? Having a psychosocial health and safety policy is not the same as managing psychosocial risk and regulators increasingly treat the gap as a breach. The most common mistake we see is treating this as an HR document rather than a WHS obligation owned by senior leadership exactly the “Band-Aid solution” the Model Code of Practice warns against. A
Managing Psychosocial Risks in the Workplace: Why a Policy Alone Won’t Protect You Read More »
Managing ill and injured employees is one of the highest-risk tasks any Australian employer faces. When a worker is injured or falls ill, several legal regimes switch on at once — and they don’t always agree. Get it right and you protect your people and your organisation. Get it wrong and one termination can trigger multiple claims. Here’s how to do it —
When a worker is killed or seriously injured at work, the first 48 hours shape everything that follows — your legal exposure, your standing with the WHS regulator, the wellbeing of your people, and your ability to defend any future prosecution. The best predictor of a good response is having an incident-response plan ready before anything happens.
The First 48 Hours After a Serious Workplace Incident: An Employer’s Response Plan Read More »
A well-run workplace investigation is one of the strongest risk-management tools an Australian employer has. Done properly, it gives you a defensible basis to act on misconduct. Done poorly, the investigation itself becomes the liability — often costing more than the original complaint. The difference comes down to process: right scope, procedural fairness, privilege considered early, and
The biggest shift in Australian sexual harassment law is not a new penalty or complaint form. It is a change in who must act, and when. Under the Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth), employers now carry a positive duty — a proactive, ongoing obligation to take reasonable and proportionate measures to eliminate sexual harassment, sex discrimination, sex-based harassment, hostile work environments and victimisation, so far as possible.
The Positive Duty Explained: How Australian Employers Prevent Sexual Harassment at Work 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
Mental health in the workplace is no longer a “nice to have” conversation — it is a business-critical priority. In a recent HR Bites webinar, I explored the role of Mental Health First Aid at Work within a broader workplace mental health strategy, and the practical steps employers can take to manage psychological risk, meet
Mental Health First Aid at Work: A Practical Guide for Employers Read More »