Legal experts are urging businesses to train their staff in up-to-date social media policies this year, after activewear brand Lorna Jane won a two-year legal battle in November against a former employee who claimed the company was responsible for the psychiatric impacts of bullying at work. Former Brisbane store manager Amy Robinson filed a legal claim against Lorna Jane in 2015, seeking $570,000 in damages. The former manager claimed Lorna Jane was negligent and should be held responsible for her being bullied by a learning and development manager at the company, which led to psychiatric illness and a loss of employment and future employability. The company came out swinging against the claims early on,   posting a later-deleted Facebook post in 2015 defending itself against the claims  and saying it had been “very disappointed” by what had been reported in the media about the case. The claims included that Robinson was bullied and called a variety of names while...

Whilst technology and social media have unquestionably provided many benefits to the modern workplace and opportunities for businesses to reach a wider audience, they have also presented dilemmas for HR managers and business owners when dealing with interactions between employees.  With the increased use of the internet and social media, and the fact that almost everyone in the workplace now owns a smart phone and can access Facebook, Instagram and similar social media platforms 24/7, problems that used to be left at work when the day ended and everyone went home now follow people home after work hours, which can present huge challenges for employees and managers alike. With 66% of the Australian population now on Facebook, 20% on Instagram and 17% on Snapchat i , social media has become a huge part of many people's lives. The impact that social media bullying has on children and teenagers has been well publicised, with many schools now introducing programs to educate stud...

The law, it might be said, too often forgets HR professionals are still human. While the employment law regulatory framework expects calm and rational decision making, HR managers are just as prone to emotive judgment as the rest of us. Recent case law provides an apt reminder that a higher standard is expected when employers elect to terminate employees. Although neither occurred in the APS context, they remain instructive for federal public servants. In  Bellenger v Mid North Coast Local Health District ,  the applicant was found to have had approximately 1,256 emails of a “pornographic, graphic (violence) and generally inappropriate” nature in her work inbox. Among the emails discovered by a forensic audit were 31 emails containing pictures of genitals, four containing images depicting naked children and 11 with cartoons portraying sex. Between 2006 and 2014, the applicant had sent, received and stored these emails in a “funny emails” folder. After the investigation, her...