BLRC Newsletter
Navigating Risk
Risk and Exposure
Exposure matters more than risk. Risk is the probability of something happening in the future, its frequency. Exposure is what the company stands to loose. For example, sexual harassment and/or assult cases are relatively rare; but when it happens, the damage to the victim, organisational culture and perhaps business reputation is substantial. In such cases risk is low but exposure high.
About Navigating Risk
The intent of the newsletter is to alert clients and friends to potential industrial relations and anti-discrimination cases of high exposure. As sush it concentrates on the Assistance aspect of the BLRC service, rather than advice on matters such as, Award interpretation, wage rates, and the like. That is the focus is on those infrequent but difficult cases where Geoff’s specialist expertise may be needed. Navigating Risk is distributed by email (free of charge) on topics that I consider important and that may be of interest to clients. The maximine length is about 300 words to keep it time effective. Only the most recent edition will be published here.
Navigating Risk July 2024
Unfounded Bullying Allegations
Bullying behaviour is serious misconduct that may warrant termination of employment and is actionable in the Fair Work Commission. Bullying behaviour may be directed at an individual or group and is usually defined as repeated unreasonable behaviour that causes a risk to health and safety. Reasonable management action is not bullying. We shall unpack this definition from a manager’s perspective seeking to protect themselves from unfounded allegations of bullying.
What is reasonable depends on all the circumstances of the case. Various agencies produce lists of possible bullying behaviour (isolation, unjustified criticism etc) but I have not found these very helpful. Just so you know, even a statement to an employee may constitute bullying behaviour. Managers must do their job and sometimes make decisions that negatively impact employees and may appear unreasonable to the employee. What is reasonable is not subjective it is objective. Was the decision/action reasonable from an objective point of view? I recommend managers always have a genuine operational reason for all decisions/actions affecting employees. This makes the decision/action arguably reasonable and therefore not bullying. This is the defence.
The manner in which the decision/action is carried out must also be reasonable. The manager should consider the employee/s particular circumstances, especially attributes such as mental illness, physical features and the like that are protected under anti-discrimination legislation. Respect for the employee’s right to privacy is also a consideration. A record should be kept of these considerations.
The takeaways are as follows. As a minimum, whenever making a decision/action that may adversely affect an employee/s always consider the employee/s particular circumstances. Secondly, have a genuine operational reason for the decision/action and finally keep good records. In later newsletters, we shall deal with the anti-bullying question. The next newsletter will deal with casual conversion.