When informing a director she was being investigated for breaching a code of conduct, an employer failed to take into account her experience of family and domestic violence, and its approach caused her to suffer a psychological injury, a tribunal has ruled.
In finding today that the risk of an employee's psychiatric injury was a "serious possibility" after his botched dismissal process, the High Court has nonetheless determined not to rule on whether employers' duty of care extends to disciplinary and termination events.
The High Court has restored a $1.44 million damages award to an employee who had a "catastrophic" reaction to his misconduct dismissal, with the majority ruling that when the employer didn't follow its disciplinary policy, it breached the worker's contract.
An employee who was "unwilling" to acknowledge the part he played in his ongoing unfitness for work has failed to persuade a full bench of the Fair Work Commission to re-examine a decision that his dismissal was fair.
When it comes to setting boundaries that allow people to disconnect from work, employees tend to think this responsibility lies with their employer, rather than themselves, research suggests.
Failing to let an employee comprehensively respond to performance concerns she considered "unjustified" was unreasonable, a commission has ruled in upholding her psychological injury claim.
An employer's "very modest step" in limiting an employee's communications with his supervisor was reasonable action, in light of identified risks to the latter's mental health, a tribunal has found.
An employee was understandably concerned about his relationship with a supervisor, who labelled him a poor performer and suggested he attended work "to bludge", a commission has found in psychological injury proceedings.
A "very generalised HR person" had no basis to weigh in on whether an employee's psychological injury risks were foreseeable, a court has ruled in throwing out his "expert" report.
An employer's misguided approach to addressing an "emotional" supervisor's performance issues could have caused even someone of "normal fortitude" to suffer a psychiatric injury, a court has ruled in ordering it to pay $300k in damages.
Some employers have successfully stepped up to the task of managing psychosocial safety, but in many other workplaces, initiatives are falling flat. Join us for an HR Daily webinar to understand what's holding back progress in this critical space and how to move forward.
