Topic
19 articles from our Tips & Trends archive.
FWC (Mr Luke Wilson (nee Miller) v Services Australia [2025] FWC 3328) recently awarded $33,348.62 plus superannuation to a former employee after finding his resignation amounted to a constructive dismissal. FWC ruled the employer should have given the employee “space” to recover his mental health before treating his resignation as final.
Read more
FWC recently in Young [2025] FWC 2834 dismissed a bullying claim brought by a public sector employee, finding that the Department acted reasonably in placing him on a three-day work week while he recovered from a previous toxic workplace experience.
Read more
The NSW government has released an exposure draft to amend its workers compensation legislation which will in summary provide: • New definition of “psychological injury” • New criteria for establishing an entitlement for compensation for psychological injury • Additional criteria for establishing an entitlement for compensation for psychological injury caused by "sexual harassment", "bullying" or "racial harassment" • Clarification of what constitutes “reasonable management action” and the circumstances in which compensation will not be awarded for psychological injury. • Modernising benefits and compensation thresholds to better reflect the cost of living and community expectations (s 32AA).
Read more
No - according to the NSW Government who in its recent report to address the sustainability of the workers compensation system concluded that employers can expect the premiums to rise by 36% over the next three years to 2027 – 2028.
Read more
A recent Australian study (Associations between employees' alcohol consumption, insomnia and HR management strength) has found that strong consensus among management levels in workplace HR practices can significantly reduce stress and insomnia among employees. However, another Australian study (Police leaders' perspectives on their ability to support employee wellbeing in Australia: lack of time, training or support?) also revealed that workplace leaders are struggling to support staff wellbeing due to overwhelming workloads and a lack of time and resources.
Read more
The FWC (Fogo v Boeing Aerostructures Australia Pty Limited [2024] FWC 3037 (8 November 2024)) has dismissed a 61-year-old engineer's request to work remotely two days a week, citing no ‘objective and rational connection’ between his age to the need for flexible arrangements.
Read more
Christmas is a great time of year but unfortunately, work functions can be fertile ground for incidents that lead to not only WHS claims but also: sexual harassment, sex based harassment, hostile work environment, sex discrimination, victimisation (collectively the Respect@Work obligations), plus bullying, adverse action, unfair dismissal, and privacy claims as well.
Read more
All businesses experience the pre-Christmas rush. Workplaces seek to ‘clear the decks’ before they ‘deck the halls’ with their family and friends, and this in turn places additional demands on other workplaces. The cycle is unhelpful for all businesses and is likely to contribute to fatigue of workers. Will this year be any different?
Read more
The Safety Regulator has charged a Director and his business with recklessly endangering a fatigued delivery driver who was killed in a car accident after 12 hours into a shift delivering goods to various locations.
Read more
Employers take heed. The new head of SafeWork Australia, Marie Boland, in recently releasing the latest SWA report into psychosocial safety, warned employers that they need to take greater efforts into managing escalating mental health compensation claims.
Read more
Bullying has tended to have taken a bit of a ‘back seat’ following all the recent publicity around the Respect@Work changes. Nonetheless, it is a recognised psychosocial hazard and needs ongoing attention. Safety regulators have demonstrated that they will intervene from worker level (e.g. other employees, supervisors etc) right up to officer level (e.g. senior managers, company directors etc).
Read more
All businesses experience the pre-Christmas rush. Workplaces seek to ‘clear the decks’ before they ‘deck the halls’ with their family and friends, and this in turn places additional demands on other workplaces. The cycle is unhelpful for all businesses and is likely to contribute to fatigue of workers. The post COVID-19 work spike has been well documented. For a lot of businesses, there has been no respite
Read more
Christmas is a great time of year but unfortunately, work functions can be fertile ground for incidents that lead to not only WHS claims but also: sexual harassment, sex based harassment, hostile work environment, sex discrimination, victimisation (collectively the Respect@Work obligations), plus bullying, adverse action, unfair dismissal, and privacy claims as well. With the introduction of the new positive duty for the Respect@Work obligations, employers now have multiple proactive and preventative obligations to ensure that Christmas functions are safe for their employees and others who attend (eg clients, customers, food and beverage staff etc).
Read more
The Melbourne Magistrate’s Court recently fined Court Services Victoria nearly $380,000 as a result of a toxic workplace culture that it considered had contributed to a Coroner’s Court lawyer’s suicide.
Read more
We have all seen the increasing trend of high profile leaders departing their jobs stating they need to “take a break”, “spend more time with their family” or encouragingly citing “burnout” as the reason. But every employer should know that “burnout” is not just a trend for leaders. It can affect anyone regardless of position, and is a psychosocial hazard that needs to be addressed in most workplaces.
Read more
Australia is once again very close to achieving ‘enhanced’ obligations to tackle psychosocial safety with specific regulations being recently introduced throughout the various jurisdictions. Whilst strictly speaking, there have always been obligations to address psychosocial safety, these ‘clarifiers’ pave the way for more overt practical implementation. Employers can anticipate a heightened compliance environment and expectations from their workforce for improved outcomes at the ‘coalface’.
Read more
In line with the rapid growth in awareness (and claims) relating to psychosocial health at work, Safe Work Australia has published its highly anticipated model WHS Code of Practice, Managing psychosocial hazards at work (Code) (available here). You may remember our previous article on the first Code of Practice on managing psychosocial hazards (available here).
Read more
The High Court recently handed down its decision in Kozarov v Victoria [2022] HCA 12, in which it made clear that employers have a duty to safeguard their employees from work-related mental harm - even in circumstances where there is a vicarious trauma policy in place.
Read more
As of 28 May 2021, New South Wales became the first jurisdiction in Australia to introduce the Code of Practice: Managing Psychosocial Hazards at Work.
Read more
Tips & Trends
You will get short, relevant articles on topical areas with actionable steps and real commentary.
