First published on Thursday, October 3, 2024
Last updated on Wednesday, October 2, 2024
Have you heard the latest news?
Everything you need to know about the latest trends impacting employers all over Australia. Keep up to date with the HR Heartbeat.
Let’s get into the headlines.
Aussie mental health crisis
The 2024 Health of the Nation report reveals that 71% of GPs say mental health concerns is the top reason for patient consultations.
Dr Cathy Andronis, Chair of RACGP Specific Interests Psychological Medicine said that efforts so far have been akin to sticking Band-Aids on a health system that needs a major reconstruction.
This rate has remained steady since the 2023 report, and the number is up 10% from when the survey first started in 2017.
GPs across Australia share that they’re seeing far more patients battling multiple, complex health issues including issues with their mental health. However, with the cost-of-living crisis making mental health support services much less affordable, around 20% of Australians have delayed getting mental health support in the last year.
Altogether, these issues point to a worsening mental health crisis in the years to come unless big changes are made.
As an Australian employer, you may wonder what you can do to support your employees in maintaining their physical and mental health.
Offering an Employee Assistance Program can help Aussie businesses of all sizes build healthier, happier teams. It’s the reason why we’ve launched our brand-new Bright Wellbeing EAP.
Bright Wellbeing is powered by Wisdom Wellbeing—giving your employees access to 24/7 wellbeing support. The service includes a confidential helpline, crisis assistance line, access to counsellors and psychologists, and the accessible Wisdom app. Book a demo with our software experts to see the service for yourself.
The judge, the juror, the vintage store
In what’s believed to be the first case of its kind, an employer was found guilty of threatening a juror and undermining the Jury Act.
The employer was a vintage clothing shop in Sydney whose employee was called up for jury duty in an NSW Supreme Court murder case in 2023.
She had been rostered to work on three out of every four weekends during the eight-week trial. But the trial judge advised that she take the weekends off to process the violent case. Despite sending her employer two letters from the judge instructing her to rest over the weekends, the employer emailed the employee to inform her that not fulfilling her ordinary hours put her in breach of company policy.
When the employee returned to work, she was given a letter informing her of a disciplinary hearing. Feeling like she was being punished unfairly, she decided to resign.
The Local Court found the employer guilty of threatening an employee called for jury duty with either an alteration or “injury” in their employment. Punishment for threatening an employee can include a fine of up to $22,000 and a maximum of 12 months in prison.
The sentencing is due to take place in November, but in the meantime, it’s important for employers to stay informed of their legal obligations.
With employment laws constantly changing, make sure you’re supported with up-to-date advice and policies. BrightAdvice gives you access to a team of employment relations advisers who are available to help you stay on top of legal changes and comply with your obligations. Plus, our BrightBase library of policies, templates, and other documentation helps you create timely, compliant company policies without adding to your HR admin hours.
Unlawful deductions
A Queensland labour hire business and sweet potato farm is facing the Ombudsman’s legal action for allegedly unlawfully deducting money from migrant employees.
The Ombudsman alleges that the company put a policy in place to fine employees $500 for breaching the company’s alcohol policy, which stated that the company had zero tolerance for workers being under the influence of alcohol while staying at on-site accommodation.
Between January and March 2022, 29 employees were presented with fines under the alcohol policy that added up to $14,500 with many of them impacting employees who lived on farm accommodation.
But it doesn’t end there. More allegations levelled against the company are that it:
- Deducted $2.50 more per week than the cost of the health insurance premiums the employees required for their visas. Between November 2021 and March 2022, this resulted in deductions of $1,282.50 across 27 full-time employees.
- Accidentally overpaid 28 casual employees for overtime in August 2021 and then deducted $2,548.60 from the employees’ wages—without their approval—to recover the overpayment.
In total, the Ombudsman alleges that the company unlawfully deducted $18,331 from 66 employees covered by the Horticulture Award 2020.
The alleged deductions are in breach of the Fair Work Act because they weren’t for the employees’ benefit and weren’t lawfully authorised or disclosed in writing. The Ombudsman is now seeking penalties against the business and its sole director. The employer has since rectified the underpayments identified by the FWO, making all underpayments, and proactively removed the fines from their alcohol policy.
As a business, it’s important to know that deductions are only lawful in very limited circumstances. Understanding these laws and having access to 24/7 employment law advice whenever you need it can help you make the right decisions at the right time to ensure your business is always acting in line with the law.
That wraps up this edition of HR Heartbeat. Stay tuned for more headlines and all the latest updates that will keep you in the know with all the major employment changes coming your way.
If you’ve got questions about the top HR headlines from this week, ask Bright BrAInbox:
What is an authorised deduction?
An employer may only deduct from an employee's wages if the deduction is permitted and this is where a deduction is:
(i) authorised in writing by the employee and is mainly for the employee's benefit; or
(ii) is authorised under an Award, by the employee in accordance with an Enterprise Agreement, authorised under a FWC Order or another state or territory law.
An example of a payment for the employee's benefit is salary sacrificing.
The employee's authorisation must be in writing and state the full amount of the deduction or change to the amount. The employee can withdraw the authorisation at any time. Deductions must also be clearly stated on an employee's payslip. Deductions which are not permitted can expose the Employer to liability. Speak to an advisor where you are considering making a deduction from an employee.
What is a workplace mental health strategy?
A workplace mental health strategy is an organisation’s plan for how they will address mental health risks in a workplace and create a workplace that ensures employees’ mental health and safety.
Jury duty is when members of the public are selected to form part of a jury for a criminal or civil trial. When employees are selected for jury duty this is called community service leave. Community service leave is a type of leave that is provided for under the National Employment Standards. If an employee, other than a casual, is required to attend jury service, they are entitled to payment of their ordinary hours of work up to 10 days at their base rate of pay. Each state will have additional rules for how payment is made should the trial exceed 10 days. Additionally, a modern award, employment contract or enterprise agreement may contain a greater entitlement to paid jury service.
On request, an employee must present their employer with evidence of the amount of jury service pay they have received (only in relation to the first two weeks) before they can receive payment.
