Are your workplace policies clear and easy to understand? Do they make it (objectively) obvious what an employee must do to comply?
The Fair Work Commission recently reinstated an employee who was dismissed for failing to follow it’s IT procedures policy. Whilst the FWC considered that what the employee had done in breaching the policy did in fact constitute a valid reason for her dismissal, it found that the dismissal was harsh, unjust and unreasonable and reinstated her to her role for reasons which included that:
- the policy that she was to have followed was “long, complex and legalistic”;
- the policy was not clear that if she breached it in that way, it would constitute serious misconduct and lead to significant disciplinary outcomes up to and including dismissal; and
- other employees routinely did the same thing that she had done, but had not been reprimanded or dismissed; and
- the policy was not readily accessible.
The best lesson from this decision for employers is that workplace policies must be accessible, understandable and reasonable (with reasonable extending to the way in which they are applied across the workforce – i.e. the rules and ramifications of not complying are the same for all).
Is it time you revisited your workplace policies? (Tip: if they are old, inaccessible, long, complex, legalistic or unclear as to the potential consequences of a breach, the answer is yes).
