18/08/2008

These days, where corporate culture is so important you may be surprised to learn that a large number of employers still believe that aggression and bullying are the way to manage employees.

Some employees are now finding themselves in situations where an employer has unilaterally made a substantial change to an employee’s job description, duties, responsibilities, budget and the like; leaving an employee with little choice other than to accept the change.  

Employers may make these changes for various reasons, but more often than not, the change is part of restructure designed to convince an employee that it is better to resign from their current role than to face the proposed new role.  

Before the introduction of WorkChoices, it was open to employees to commence proceedings against their former employer on the basis of unfair treatment under the Industrial Relations Act.  That is no longer an option for employees in companies with less than 100 employees, who must now think outside the square and rely on remedies under the common law and other statutes.

A spate of recent cases has indicated that Courts are now implying terms into the employer/employee relationship, which was previously limited to a single employment contract.  Courts are now taking a broader approach and have recently implied into the employer/employee relationship terms arising from human resources policies, oral promises made by an employer, and common law duties relating to mutual trust, confidence and procedural fairness.

Courts are now also applying statues, such as the trade practices legislation, which has not traditionally been applied in an employer/employee situation and protecting employees in circumstances where an employer acts in a manner that misleads or deceives an employee.

So employers need to be a little careful.  It is not correct to say that because of Work Choices there is no longer redress for employees who are unfairly treated.  The Courts will imply terms and apply other statutes to the employer/employee relationship and continue to ensure that employees are protected.