In December, the High Court ruled in favour of a former employee, setting a new legal precedent. The employee was awarded $1.44 million in damages.
The high court determined that Vision Australia caused a psychological injury by breaching the terms of the employee’s contract, which incorporated their policies and procedures. The mistake they made was:
👎 not following their disciplinary process correctly,
👎 failing to provide the employee with evidence of his misconduct,
👎 failing to conduct a thorough investigation, instead relying on a single statement of a third party,
👎 having an evidence trail that showed clear bias, with written comments that the employee’s behaviour was deteriorating.
What is critical in this finding is the legal shift to recognising the importance our job plays in our wellbeing and mental health. Specifically, the High Court’s opinion stated:
“psychiatric injury is an illness which is a different type of damage from mere mental distress”. It noted a person’s employment “is usually one of the most important things in his or her life”.
This opinion recognises the role our jobs play in our identity, social standing and our self-esteem. In this specific case, the employee was dismissed in a manner that not only breached procedure but was a sudden and immediate loss of a job he had for ten years without due diligence and due process.
So what should we learn from this?
1. If you have policies and procedures, READ THEM and FOLLOW THEM. If you don’t, you can be held liable.
2. Know the terms of your employment contracts, read them and follow them. If you don’t, you can be held liable.
3. Always take the time to conduct thorough investigations into misconduct, be diligent and give the employee the ability to respond.
4. Bias, be it conscious or unconscious, is dangerous when we are facing a serious disciplinary matter. I highly recommend using an independent party to advise or conduct such processes so you can demonstrate full independence and due diligence in any legal case.
If you want to explore the issues this case raises in detail, I’d love to chat further. Reach out via DM or head to maureenkyne.com.au to book in a time.
Did you know that your employees can now claim damages for psychological injuries caused by non-compliance with your policies & procedures?
How does this apply to volunteers in that the SA SES has volunteers who are deemed as workers / employees under the Return to Work act.
I am from the SASES Volunteers Association and we assist volunteers with grievances etc and bullying and such is rife and the way volunteers are treated by paid employees who forget if it wasn’t for volunteers they wouldn’t have a job.
Also paid who could be involved may investigate and the bias is atrocious, plus volunteers unlike paid have no avenue to appeal. Always a paid employee who investigates and the Chief Officer has the final say.
How does this apply to volunteers in that the SA SES as volunteers are deemed as workers / employees under the Return to Work act.
I am from the SASES Volunteers Association and we assist volunteers with grievances etc and bullying and such is rife and the way volunteers are treated by paid employees who forget if it wasn’t for volunteers they wouldn’t have a job.
Also paid who could be involved may investigate and the bias is atrocious, plus volunteers unlike paid have no avenue to appeal. Always a paid employee who investigates and the Chief Officer has the final say.
Hello Sussn, please email me at enquiries@maureenkyen.com.au, and I will discuss further with you. Maureen