Are you or your employees in the dark about their work arrangements? Maybe it’s time to shed light on this. Formalising flexible working arrangements could help protect both employees and managers when it comes to drawing a line in the sand between bullying and harassment and reasonable management action. A recent case brought against the […]
We are pleased to announce our merger with LKA Group Pty Ltd, a national investigations company. The merger becomes official on 1 January 2014. On that date our combined firm will begin conducting its practice under the same familiar name of WISE Workplace with offices in Sydney, ACT, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart and Perth. Merging with […]
There is no doubt that social media is playing an increasing role in our lives. Have you ever been handed a folder of print outs from Facebook and told; “Here you go, I want this person out!”? An increasing number of organisations are developing social media policies as a starting point to control inappropriate […]
Jill McMahon – Tuesday, October 29, 2013 Last week, I looked at how the 1938 divorce case of Briginshaw vs. Briginshaw has significant impact on workplace investigations today. This week, I look at the importance of the balance of probabilities and applying Briginshaw in practice. The balance of probabilities Usually the role of an […]
What relevance does the 1938 divorce case Briginshaw versus Briginshaw have, seven decades after the fact, to workplace investigations in the 21st century? Find out in a two part series on WISE Workplace’s blogs. Briginshaw v Briginshaw comes up a lot where workplace investigations concern matters which could involve criminal or other moral wrong doing; […]
What is “sexting”? “Sexting”, (the creation, possession and transmission of sexually suggestive or explicit messages or images), is all the rage with seemingly even the most conservative of your employees potentially drawn into seductive messaging over their phones. However, employers who employ young people may need to consider the potential criminal ramifications when they are […]
By ALISON PAGE, Legal Counsel Often it’s not a one-off event; investigations into alleged sexual harassment frequently reveal that on previous occasions the respondent has faced other accusations of inappropriate conduct against fellow employees. This evidence is traditionally known as “similar fact evidence” or “tendency evidence”. When the investigator considers each alleged incident in […]
Whether you contract an external investigator or conduct an investigation yourself, you need to record the process, document the evidence you gathered and articulate the evaluation you applied to make the findings. The Investigation Report needs to provide the decision-maker with all the relevant information to make fast, reliable decisions that won’t lead them […]
A recent case determined by the Fair Work Commission provides some important lessons for employers about bullying dismissals. In Harris v Workpac Pty Ltd [2013] FWC 4111 the Commission found in favour of the applicant and determined that her dismissal for gross misconduct for bullying a co-worker was unfair. Mrs Harris was dismissed on 20 […]
Does your team know the difference between workplace bullying and reasonable management action? Do your policies and procedures reflect the new draft Code of Practice for Preventing and Responding to Workplace Bullying? When an employee makes a complaint of workplace bullying, will your staff know how to respond, come January 2014? Ensure you are not […]