We often encourage employers to seek our advice prior to making decisions regarding terminations and a recent case has provided third party endorsement of this approach.
In this particular case BHP Coal must reinstate two truck drivers it had terminated for breaching its mobile electronic devices “ on-site” policy.
At the core of the reasoning from the Fair Work Commission was the decision makers in this case failed to ensure the dismissals were fair and the main element was they had Industrial Relations (IR) experts to utilise but failed to seek their expertise.
If they had sought the IR advice they would have been given better overall perspective of the situation and realised there are many factors at work when making a decision to terminate not just the specific incident itself of whether they did or did not breach the policy.
For example – the Fair Work Commission said the company did not take into account their relevant service and also did not take into account the detail to which the employees had been made aware of the policy.
In particular , the Fair Work Commission found the on-site mobile electronics device policy was “not clearly written or during training employees made aware and as such was poorly implemented.”
Summary: The HR Central’s online portal, ensures the employees are made aware, understand and agree to a policy which removes any ambiguity that was seen in this matter.
In addition, being able to call on our HR specialist means there is always someone to talk though the issues and guide you to the most appropriate outcome for you and your business.