HR Daily
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/
News, analysis, online events and on-demand webcasts covering human resources.
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1970-01-01T00:00+00:00
HR Daily
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/
News, analysis, online events and on-demand webcasts covering human resources.
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Employee was constructively dismissed after 'hot uniform' dispute
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/news/11852
An employee who refused to wear a uniform that made him feel like he was "going to die" in hot weather was constructively dismissed, the Fair Work Commission has found. <!--MORE-->
Deputy President Thomas Roberts said although the supermarket trolley collector refused to wear a part of his uniform and left his workplace after a heated interaction saying "I'm out", his words were not legally binding and he was in fact terminated by the HR manager the following day.
The employee was hired in February 2023 on a casual basis for MSN Enterprise Group Pty Ltd, which supplied workers to another business, Controlled Trolley Collection Services (Controlled), and he worked across three different sites in eastern Sydney.
He said he wore his full uniform, including a hi-vis polyester collared shirt with a "thick thread" and Controlled logo imprinted on the back, during the winter months with no issues...
HR Daily
2024-03-28T14:30:00+10:00
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Webcast: General protections case law review
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/news/11853
General protections claims are increasingly in the spotlight as more and more employees seek to exercise their workplace rights and challenge employers' decisions. Watch this HR Daily Premium webcast to understand how to navigate this area.<!--MORE-->
Topics covered include:
* the Fair Work Act's general protections provisions, including new and upcoming changes;
* the rise in constructive dismissal claims;
* key takeaways from recent case law;
* mitigating the risk of litigation; and
* practical steps for defending claims and meeting the reverse onus of proof.
HR Daily
2024-03-28T11:43:00+10:00
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WFH technical issues understandably "frustrating", but no reason to quit
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/news/11849
Technical issues that prevented an employee from working from home for a few days were "hardly of sufficient gravity" to force him to resign, the Fair Work Commission has found.<!--MORE-->
The employee applied for a customer contact officer role with Serco Citizen Services in July last year because it was advertised as a "hybrid working opportunity" that only required one day in the office each fortnight, and he wanted a remote job because he had an injury that required frequent exercise.
A couple of months into his role, which he was contracted to perform at the ATO, the employee signed an ATO work-from-home declaration that required him to: return to the office within one hour if the remote-working solution didn't work out; return to the office if otherwise required; and agree that working from home was a "temporary arrangement"...
HR Daily
2024-03-27T14:13:00+10:00
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Procedural failings a "poor reflection" on investigation integrity: FWC
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/news/11851
The integrity of an employer's misconduct investigation has been criticised, with the Fair Work Commission finding it substantiated allegations against an employee before he had a proper opportunity to respond.<!--MORE-->
In September last year, Piacentini & Son sacked the production supervisor for being uncontactable by two-way radio and falling asleep during two separate shifts at its Cataby mine in Western Australia.
In unfair dismissal proceedings, the Commission heard the employee had been inspecting mine pits while on night shift and parked his car on the side of a road to fill out an inspection report.
The employee claimed he left the ignition, headlights and internal vehicle lights on and leant against the driver's side door with the report on his lap, which may have falsely made it look like he was sleeping...
HR Daily
2024-03-27T12:49:00+10:00
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"Mental stress" didn't excuse absence from disciplinary meeting
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/news/11846
Asking an employee to attend a disciplinary meeting and provide a medical certificate for his unauthorised absence wasn't "coercion", the Fair Work Commission has found in unfair dismissal proceedings.<!--MORE-->
The Challenge Community Services disability support worker regularly worked 45 hours each fortnight, on Friday, Saturday and Sunday evenings, despite being on a 40-hour-per-fortnight contract.
In August last year, the employee noticed errors in his roster, which included not having any Sunday shifts, and asked the operations manager to correct them...
HR Daily
2024-03-26T15:05:00+10:00
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Under-utilised EAPs at odds with "exploding" demands on mental health services
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/news/11848
Employees resist using EAPs because they fear being perceived as weak, or they see them as a performance management tool rather than aiding wellbeing, research shows. <!--MORE-->
Early employee assistance programs took the form of "coercive substance abuse interventions" used as a surrogate for disciplinary action, and although they have evolved into voluntary wellbeing programs, EAPs continue to carry stigma, says University of WA business school HR management lecturer Tianyi Long, in a new research article.
Employees don't trust EAPs, because they see them as managerial tools used to improve performance issues, and believe they serve management's interests more than their own, Long contends...
HR Daily
2024-03-26T12:43:00+10:00
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"Profoundly negative reaction" to referee was candidate's downfall
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/news/11842
A candidate's job offer was never finalised because the prospective employer had a "profoundly negative reaction" to one of his referees, not because he had made an unfair dismissal claim several years earlier, a commission has ruled. <!--MORE-->
The candidate sought relief from victimisation in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission, after his application for a senior finance business partner role at Parramatta Council was unsuccessful in July last year.
He alleged the employer's CEO refused to appoint him to the role because he had claimed unfair dismissal in 2019, after his contract with another Council was terminated (that claim was settled).
The candidate claimed that last year, after he was shortlisted and interviewed for the Parramatta Council role, a third-party recruiter told him he'd been offered the position. He then provided three referees, which were forwarded to the employer...
HR Daily
2024-03-25T15:25:00+10:00
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Academic warns of HR systems that amass "talent clones"
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/news/11844
Employers that let vendors be the primary decision-makers when it comes to talent risk amassing "talent clones" instead of identifying a "kaleidoscope of talent", an academic says.<!--MORE-->
In her new book Rethinking Talent Decisions, University of Wollongong School of Business academic Dr Sharna Wiblen says the former question of *which* HR or talent management system to use has become a question of *how many*.
"When I ask HR and senior executives how many systems they use to support talent decisions, I find that organisations have moved beyond the decision between proprietary and vendor-designed systems. Instead, they have entered a complex situation where they maintain multiple vendor systems," Wiblen writes, noting she encountered one Australian professional services firm that used a "staggering" 80 different HR technologies to capture, store and analyse its data...
HR Daily
2024-03-25T12:37:00+10:00
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"Fed up" employee had reasonable alternatives to resigning
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/news/11838
A worker could have followed formal grievance processes rather than leaving her job, the Fair Work Commission has ruled in rejecting her constructive dismissal claim.<!--MORE-->
The East Wimmera Health Service psychologist resigned in November last year because of her dissatisfaction with the workplace culture, "constant" bullying by colleagues, "incompetent" management, and her view that the employer had failed to properly respond to her complaints.
She subsequently made a general protections claim, arguing she had no choice but to quit, but the employer objected on the basis the employee wasn't dismissed...
HR Daily
2024-03-22T12:17:00+10:00
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Job crafting: a gamechanger for performance and productivity
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/news/11840
There are clear links between job crafting and increased engagement, so employers should "absolutely" be fostering conditions for it to happen, an HR advisor says.<!--MORE-->
The pandemic gave many employees the opportunity to engage in job crafting for the first time, not because their employers intended it, but because hybrid and flexible working practices gave people new control over how and when they worked, says Gartner HR practice vice president Aaron McEwan.
Licence to shape not only the tasks an employee performs, but when, how, and where they perform them, is "hugely liberating" and can drive an "incredible" increase in productivity, performance, and engagement, he says.
But despite the fact "all of the pieces are in play" for a far more intentional, widespread approach to job crafting, a lot of organisations are in the process of removing the conditions that gave rise to it...
HR Daily
2024-03-22T10:27:00+10:00
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Employer's aggressive response to resignation was "potentially unlawful"
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/news/11834
An employer has been slammed for its unreasonable, aggressive and "potentially unlawful" conduct towards a manager who had resigned, with the Fair Work Commission finding it sacked her when it "waived" her notice period.<!--MORE-->
The manager at The Shed Café in Campbelltown resigned in September last year, but subsequently submitted an application for unfair dismissal, which the employer objected to on the basis she had quit voluntarily.
The Commission heard that on 11 September, the manager was certified unfit for work until 13 September, however later that day she emailed through her resignation, stating her last day would be 25 September.
One of the employer's co-owners then repeatedly texted her, asking why she had resigned, and the manager said she would be happy to talk about it when she returned to work...
HR Daily
2024-03-21T15:40:00+10:00
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Upcoming webcast: Out-of-hours and remote misconduct
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/news/11833
Employers continue to face shifting boundaries regarding their ability to address misconduct that occurs outside the workplace or normal working hours. Watch this HR Daily Premium webcast to understand the scope of your rights and obligations.
HR Daily
2024-03-21T14:34:00+10:00
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Leaders are "weaponising" rather than inspiring accountability
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/news/11836
A lack of accountability in organisations is a major contributing factor to underperformance, however the approach many use to 'hold people to account' doesn't inspire them to perform at their best. <!--MORE-->
In her new book, The Leaders Ecosystem, psychologist Dr Paige Williams highlights that the epidemic of underperformance in organisations today is driven by issues with accountability.
"Without accountability, nothing sticks: not your latest transformational change initiative, not your best talent, nothing. Without accountability, poor-quality work, decisions and leadership go unchallenged, and 'ethical slip' starts to happen... we waste time, effort and energy in a fog of confusion and dysfunction," she says...
HR Daily
2024-03-21T12:01:00+10:00
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Sacking was "excessive punishment" for stressed, frustrated worker
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/news/11827
Employers' obligations to ensure psychosocial safety at work can present a "significant challenge", the Fair Work Commission has observed in finding a stressed and frustrated employee was unfairly dismissed for misconduct.<!--MORE-->
In July last year, Ventia Australia sacked the Fremantle Justice Complex custody officer for breaching its code of conduct during an incident with a person in custody (PIC) two months earlier. Specifically, it alleged he head-butted the glass section of the PIC's cell door and then later told a manager it was a shame he'd hit the door and not the PIC's head.
But the employee claimed his conduct wasn't sufficiently serious to warrant dismissal.
He told the Commission that when the PIC was dropped off at the complex, he started threatening custody officers, punching walls, kicking doors, and putting his shirt in the toilet to flood the cell...
HR Daily
2024-03-20T13:32:00+10:00
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Webcast: Negotiating smooth exits for difficult employees
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/news/11831
Workplace disputes and litigation commonly involve certain types of 'difficult' employee, but things needn't progress to that point. This HR Daily Premium webcast discusses how applying the right knowledge and skills can help HR professionals ensure these employees depart smoothly.<!--MORE-->
Topics covered include:
* different types of 'difficult' worker;
* why it's so hard to exit employees;
* what a smooth exit looks like;
* practical steps for HR;
* key elements of 'without prejudice' strategies;
* applying creative solutions;
* drafting tips for settlement deeds; and
* case studies of successful exits.
HR Daily
2024-03-20T11:13:00+10:00
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Upcoming webcast: Complying with the right to disconnect
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/news/11835
From August, employees will have a legislated right to disconnect from work. Understand what this means for your organisation by watching this HR Daily Premium webcast.
HR Daily
2024-03-20T10:48:00+10:00
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Employees over 55 have broad scope to request flexibility
https://www.hrdaily.com.au/news/11830
An employee seeking to move her Saturday volunteering work to weekdays has been cleared to proceed with a dispute over the refusal of her flexible work request.<!--MORE-->
The Fair Work Commission ruling is "helpful" for employers because it clarifies the circumstances in which someone aged over 55 years might seek to change their working arrangements, says HR Law practice group leader Kristin Ramsey.
The employee worked as a full-time graphic designer for label manufacturer CCL Label Australia, and volunteered on Saturdays with the South Australian Ambulance Service.
In September 2023 she requested to compress her full-time hours into four days – Monday through Thursday – so she could volunteer on Fridays and keep her weekends free...
HR Daily
2024-03-19T15:37:00+10:00