From significant legislative changes and FWC rulings to practical guidance around support people, culture challenges and managing change fatigue, here’s what got you clicking in 2024.
As we all prepare to put our out-of-office notices on for 2024, HRM takes a look back on the top ten most popular articles from 2024.
We’ve seen many intriguing FWC rulings, legislative changes and scenarios that call for practical guidance this year, and the articles below only scratch at the surface of the hundreds of articles HRM has brought to you this week.
We hope you enjoy this wrap up and look forward to bringing you more HR news, analysis and resources in 2025.
1. Employer ordered to pay $4 million in penalties for “calculated” wage theft
Summary: In April, we shared the story of an employer that was fined $4 million for what was described as a “deceitful and unscrupulous” instance of wage theft.
The employer, a restaurant chain, was accused of deliberately underpaying 17 employees – most of whom were migrant workers – to the tune of $157,025.
HR takeaway: With wage theft laws coming into effect in early 2025, now is the time to ensure compliance across wage and superannuation payments and to ensure everyone in your organisation is aware of the consequences of intentional acts of wage theft (potential jail time and fines).
Key quote: “You should be notifying the regulator that it’s happened and that you addressed it. Because the other thing that’s part of the criminalisation of wage theft, and the current wage theft regime, is that cooperation with the regulator will avoid things getting worse.” – Emma Lutwyche, Special Counsel, Pinset Masons.
2. Dismissing an employee who refused to return to the office was unfair, rules FWC
Summary: In March, we reported on an interesting case where the Fair Work Commission found an employee’s dismissal after refusing to give up a decade-long work-from-home arrangement was unfair.
The employee in this case, an accounts assistant for a small construction company, claimed her full-time remote work arrangement had been in place since her employment start date in 2013, due to family care needs and her decision to homeschool her children. However, she was not able to produce a written contractual agreement to this effect.
In 2023, her employer had decided her duties would be more effectively performed in the office. It disputed her claim that she had worked remotely for ten years, saying that the work-from-home arrangement began only with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The situation escalated when the employer proposed reducing her working hours and changing her role, which would have had a significant impact on her family’s financial situation and her children’s homeschooling.
Siding with the employee, the FWC ordered the employer to pay $5000 in compensation.
HR takeaway: Remember that if an employee requests an individual flexible work arrangement, employers are legally required to consider the request if the employee is:
- Over 55
- Living with a disability
- Pregnant
- Caring for infants or school-aged children
- Carers (within the meaning of the Carer Recognition Act 2010 (Ch)), or
- Experiencing family and domestic violence, or caring for someone who is.
However, even if the employee does not fall into one of the protected attribute categories, employers should still tread carefully when considering disciplinary action or changing the nature of an employee’s role without consultation, as this could result in an adverse action claim.
Key quote: “It’s dangerous to link performance to working from home… It raises the risk of discrimination, because they could link that to caring responsibilities.” – Chris Hill, Principal at Onside Law
3. 10 micro-behaviours that are culture killers
Summary: This popular article captured attention for its useful breakdown of the subtle yet often harmful behaviours that can erode workplace cultures.
From detailing the impacts of score-keeping and gatekeeping behaviours, to teams becoming less likely to challenge their leaders, culture expert Shane Hatton shared a range of action points to help HR practitioners address these micro-behaviours before they snowball into larger issues.
HR takeaway: This article includes a range of action points for HR, including examining leadership responses to failure, introducing recognition programs for effective group collaboration to avoid siloed work arrangements and looking for opportunities to introduce ‘outsiders’ when establishing groups to avoid closed cliques.
Key quote: “When titles and territory are over-emphasised, organisations are more likely to see power struggles and conflict arise among teams. ‘Information hoarding’ can be a way that departments or leaders maintain power through withholding critical information that may benefit other employees.” – Shane Hatton, culture expert.
Read the full article here or listen to more from Shane in this episode of AHRI’s podcast.
4. What could the ‘right to disconnect’ mean for your business?
Summary: One of the many significant legislative changes to be put in place this year was the Right to Disconnect which, for employers with 15 or more employees, came into effect on 26 August.
In this article, two legal experts posited what this would mean for businesses in the lead up to the implementation, and outlined a range of key considerations, such as what ‘unreasonable’ out of hours contact might look like and key considerations for HR to keep in mind.
HR takeaway: Considerations included:
- The practicalities of preventing contact with employees outside their working hours, especially for global businesses spanning multiple time zones, raises logistical and management considerations.
- An increase in employee claims if the right is allegedly breached or if employees perceive unfavourable treatment, such as disparities in pay or promotions compared to colleagues who remain connected outside standard working hours.
- Businesses relying on flexibility for connecting with employees outside regular work hours, particularly those with global operations, may experience disruptions to their operations.
Key quote: “It is likewise anticipated that creating a legal right to disconnect will be resisted by employer groups and deemed difficult to manage, monitor and enforce. This is especially true for organisations that have redesigned their work structures to be asynchronous.” – Aaron Goonrey, Partner at Pinsent Masons
5. What HR needs to know about upcoming laws for engaging casual workers
Summary: In June, following the passing of the Fair Work Amendment (Closing Loopholes No 2) Bill, we reported on important changes to the definition of ‘casual employees’.
Starting August 26, 2024, the new definition takes into account the actual nature of the employment relationship as well as the employment contract in place.
Casual employees will also have the option to request conversion to permanent employment after six months (or 12 months in small businesses), with certain conditions. Also, new anti-avoidance provisions introduce penalties for employers who improperly classify workers or engage in deceptive practices to avoid the new regulations.
HR takeaway: HR practitioners must carefully review and adjust casual conversion processes to ensure compliance with the updated definition and new pathways for conversion. It’s important to maintain clear, transparent practices when engaging casual workers and be prepared to respond to conversion requests within the new 21-day timeframe.
Key quote: “The new definition of casual employment considers the practical reality of the relationship, as opposed to merely the terms in the employment contract.” – Fay Calderone, Employment Partner at Hall and Wilcox.
6. Busting 4 myths about the Right to Disconnect legislation
Summary: The Right to Disconnect was a hot topic for HR this year. Before the legislation was implemented in August this year, there was some confusion among employers and employees alike about what the new rules would look like in practice.
In April, we published a popular guide to the new legislation, unpacking and debunking common misconceptions about it – for instance, the myth that employers can never again contact employees outside official work hours, or that only employees can raise a dispute over a breach of the rules.
HR takeaway: HR professionals should audit their current communication practices and work hours to ensure compliance with the Right to Disconnect legislation. It’s crucial to create clear policies around what constitutes reasonable out-of-hours communication and how the new laws will be respected without hindering flexibility or productivity.
Key quote: “It’s not like there’s a penalty for someone who sends an email out of normal working hours. It just means the employee carries the right not to respond.” – Dr Gabrielle Golding, Senior Lecturer, Adelaide Law School
7. HR’s guide to considering neuro-inclusion at each stage of the employee lifecycle
Summary: In this popular article, Aron Mercer, an expert in creating accessible, inclusive workplaces, offers tips for HR to embed neuro-inclusion into every facet of employment – for instance, by creating fair hiring processes, offering personalised onboarding and adapting performance reviews to accommodate neurodivergent employees’ needs.
Mercer shares his personal experience of being diagnosed with ADHD and the challenges faced by neurodivergent individuals in traditional workplace environments.
He advocates for a holistic approach to neuro-inclusivity, where employers embrace diverse ways of working and leverage the unique strengths neurodivergent employees bring to the table.
HR takeaway: HR leaders should prioritise neuro-inclusion throughout the employee lifecycle by adapting hiring, onboarding and performance management to accommodate the unique needs of neurodivergent employees. Offering tailored support and fostering a culture of openness and understanding is essential for ensuring psychological safety and harnessing the strengths of a diverse workforce.
Key quote: “The organisations I see promoting neuro-inclusion best do so in a holistic manner. They enable employees to say: ‘Here’s how I prefer to give and receive feedback. This approach may be shaped by my ADHD, but it’s also what I need to perform best.’” – Aron Mercer, founding team member at Xceptional.
8. HR manager criticised for “knee-jerk” reaction to criminal record discovery
Summary: In March, we reported on a thought-provoking case where a tribunal found an employee had been discriminated against for her “irrelevant” criminal record.
After discovering an employee had been convicted several years prior for violence and drug-related offences, the HR manager immediately restricted the employee’s access to company systems and placed her on leave, despite receiving limited information about the offences.
In fact, the employee had clearly disclosed her criminal history at the time of applying to her job and had discussed it with the organisation’s head of HR, who agreed that she was able to continue her employment despite her past offences.
However, at the time the convictions were brought forward by the ACT Integrity Commission, the head of HR was on leave. As a result, the acting HR head received the notification and enacted “punitive” measures in response.
The tribunal found the HR manager had failed to consider the relevance of the criminal record and the employee’s specific circumstances, and had therefore directly discriminated against the employee.
HR takeaway: The ruling on this case is a valuable reminder to HR of their legal and ethical obligations around the treatment of employees and job seekers with a criminal background. While it’s crucial for HR to have robust criminal reference checks in the recruitment process as a point of compliance, where an employee’s criminal history is irrelevant to the role or a thorough risk assessment shows that the employee poses no threat to your organisation, then refusal of an application could open up your organisation to discrimination claims.
Key quote: “It’s not the criminal record itself that’s the issue. It’s the substance of what’s in the criminal record.” – Susan Sadler, Founder and CEO of Red Wagon Workplace Solutions
9. How to avoid change fatigue slowing down your business
Summary: Business environments are becoming riskier, costlier and more complex, but employee fatigue around major change has been sharply rising since 2016, according to research from Gartner. When we reported this at the beginning of 2024, that same research indicated that employees’ willingness to embrace change sat at 38 per cent in 2022, compared with 74 per cent in 2016.
This article detailed how HR practitioners can support employees through the process when enterprise-wide change is increasingly unavoidable, and more broadly, help drive organisational growth.
HR takeaway: This article provided a range of strategies including practical change management frameworks to limit change fatigue, useful tips to bolster psychological safety during major change and ways to productively involve employees during a change management process.
Key quote: “The safety to experiment in times of change is a prerequisite for people to feel empowered, to contribute, to make a difference.” – Neal Woolrich, Director of HR Advisory, Gartner.
10. Tips to manage support people in a redundancy meeting
Summary: With redundancy intentions climbing across many businesses, HRM created a guide to help HR manage a tricky aspect of the redundancy process: support people.
Drawing on insights from a legal expert and workplace investigation specialist, the article explained how HR should meet their consultation obligations and answered commonly asked questions such as:
- Can you veto a support person?
- What is the role of a support person?
- What should HR do if they become disruptive during a redundancy meeting?
The article also contains a useful checklist HR could share with the support person in preparation for challenging HR meetings.
HR takeaway: Set clear boundaries upfront to ensure smooth redundancy meetings. HR practitioners should be aware that support people are there to be in the employee’s corner, unlike a union representative or delegate, and their duties might include providing emotional support or practical support such as taking notes. Maintaining professionalism and procedural fairness ensures a respectful process and minimises the risk of disputes escalating.
Key quote: “Some people think a support person is an advocate. But they’re not there to make representations on behalf of the employee.” – Michael Byrnes, Partner, Swaab
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