Burnout Epidemic: 80% of Australians feel burnt out
According to the latest Robert Half poll, 80% of employees have admitted to suffering from burnout, with heavy workloads named as the leading cause. This poll surveyed 1,000 full-time office workers and found that:
- 57% of Australian workers are a “little burnt out”
- 17% are “very burnt out”
- 6% are “completely burnt out”
Heavy workload emerged as the top factor impacting employees’ current mental health problems with 56% of employees affected. Some of the other reasons were:
- Insufficient number of staff (36%)
- Commute to the office (27%)
- Toxic organisational culture (26%)
- Lack of communication and support from a manager (21%)
This is a wake-up call for employers and leaders to take proactive action to improve the wellbeing of their teams.
Can employers control employee hygiene and appearance?
In the recent case of Tasmanian Water and Sewerage Corporation v. Communications, Electrical, Electronic, Energy, Information, Postal, Plumbing and Allied Services Union of Australia (CEPU), [2004] FWC 786, the FWC rejected the claim that the requirement of employees to be clean shaven was unreasonable. It determined that the direction of the employer was not unreasonable in this case as, among other things:
- It ensures that employees do not become ill or die from silicosis or asbestosis disease.
- The requirement to be clean shaven is not onerous on employees.
Policies on workplace appearance that aim to ensure the health and safety of employees are unlikely to be seen as unreasonable if they are consistently enforced and reasonably applied across the business. Employees must also be given reasonable opportunity to meet the requirements of any reasonable policy or directive. If you feel directly targeted because of a protected attribute, seek advice from an employment lawyer, as this may amount to discrimination.
61 public servants sacked for code of conduct breaches
A total of 555 public servants were found to have breached the APS Code of Conduct in the past year, with 61 of them then having their employment terminated.
The highest offence was failing to “at all times behave in a way that upholds the APS Values and APS Employment Principles, and the integrity and good reputation of the employee’s Agency and the APS”, for which 472 breaches were confirmed from 535 investigations.
Similarly, 343 investigations into failing to “behave honestly and with integrity in connection with APS employment” confirmed 297 breaches.
Channel Nine’s action plan to address toxic workplace culture
Nine Entertainment has released an action plan to fix its broken corporate culture. The plan aims to accelerate, address and measure its cultural transformation.
The plan includes mandatory training sessions on respect at work, the establishment of a confidential reporting system, and the appointment of a dedicated workplace conduct officer.
Two additional commitments have also been identified. This includes transitioning to a new, holistic Employee Wellbeing Provider and delivering a new leadership development program including 1:1 coaching to 200 of Nine’s leaders.
Nine management will also regularly report to the board on the progress and outcomes of its action plan.
NAB accused of rescinding job offer to pregnant employee
According to a new court claim, National Australia Bank (NAB) allegedly withdrew a job offer because it found out that the woman it had offered the role to was pregnant. It also alleges that a branch manager made a number of sexist remarks that humiliated her.
The statement of claim alleges that the manager said, “would it be responsible for you to start the role now because in six months’ time, you will be gone?” Shocked, hurt and humiliated, the employee allegedly commenced crying, the statement of claim says the manager then said: “It must be the hormones”.
Unfair dismissal case of foreign employee
A recent case by the FWC of Pascua v Doessel Group found that a Philippines-based legal assistant was unfairly dismissed.
HR Leader reached out to Amanda Lyras, partner at Clayton Utz, about what businesses must be aware of in terms of their employment obligations while hiring offshore workers.
Ms Lyras said, “The application of the Fair Work Act to foreign workers is somewhat complex, but it is important for businesses to be aware that the employee protections under the act can extend to workers based outside Australia,” Lyras said. “There are a number of factors that go into the assessment, but where the employer is an Australian business, in all likelihood, any individuals it employs directly will be covered by the Fair Work Act regardless of their actual location.
This landmark decision by the FWC indicates that many Australian businesses currently engaging offshore contractors could be vulnerable to costly unfair dismissal claims.
Charges laid over unacceptable behaviour towards apprentice
One Two Electrical Pty Ltd is facing two charges under section 21(1) of the OHS Act for failing to provide a safe working environment, including breaches of sections 21(2)(a) and 21(2)(e) related to workplace behaviour systems and employee training.
WorkSafe alleges that Nicholas Sheehan, the company’s sole director, failed to reduce the risk of psychological injury to an apprentice by not preventing bullying, sexually harassing or directing work-related gendered violence at her between September 2022 and April 2023.
Mr Sheehan faces 34 charges under sections 26(1) and 25(1)(b) of the OHS Act for failing to ensure a safe workplace and for failing to take reasonable care for others’ health and safety.
Changes to Victoria’s anti-vilification laws
The Victorian government has unveiled long-awaited legislation to overhaul the state’s anti-vilification laws.
The legislation will broaden existing legal protection against racial and religious vilification to include disability, gender identity, sex and sexual orientation. For example, it will protect drag performers (under gender identity) and include people with mental illness or HIV/Aids (under disability).
The bill also extends protection to those with a “personal association” to someone with a protected attribute, such as the parent of a disabled child.
Young workers disproportionately vulnerable to workplace abuse
A new report has revealed that many young workers in Australia are exposed to unnecessary risks at work, including sexual harassment.
Citing data from the Australian Human Rights Commission, this report from the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association and the Mikell Institute said that 47% of workers aged between 15 and 17 have experienced some form of sexual harassment in the workplace in the past 5 years.
The report outlined three primary recommendations to protect children from the risks in the workplace:
- Ban sex offenders working with children
- Clarify and standardise reporting obligations on employers where there is reasonable suspicion of sexual assault of children, including where the suspected offender is an employee
- Establish a targeted Commonwealth review into children’s vulnerabilities in the workplace
National Student Ombudsman to address sexual harassment in universities
The federal government has established a National Student Ombudsman to address sexual harassment in universities. It will allow higher education students to escalate complaints about the actions of their higher education provider, including complaints about sexual assault and sexual harassment.
This is positive step forward following the 2021 National Student Safety Survey which indicated that:
- 1 in 20 students have been sexually assaulted since they started university.
- 1 in 6 have been sexually harassed.
- 1 in 2 have felt like they weren’t heard when they made a complaint.
The Ombudsman will also be able to take complaints from students about a provider’s handling of other matters for example where a student is subjected to homophobia, antisemitism or Islamophobia or other forms of racism on campus. It will not handle complaints about issues such as academic judgement or employment matters.