Browsing: Absenteeism/sick leave

Australian researchers have found pandemic-era working arrangements are helping workers manage the work impacts of a serious health condition that affects many women and costs billions of dollars in lost productivity.

A worker dismissed after being on sick leave for 16 months, after a safety stoush, has unsuccessfully claimed her employer had been obligated to send her for an independent medical examination (IME) to ascertain her capacity.

A major employer should have given a worker more time to prepare for a disciplinary meeting and possibly rectify his transgressions, a commission has ruled in finding the purportedly "casual" meeting was unreasonable action that wholly or predominately caused his debilitating psych injury.

• Beware medical certificate subscriptions;
  
• Workplace control measures for lung diseases must be reviewed: SWA; and
  
• Fit-testing breaches creating serious asbestos risks.

A commission has ordered a large employer to compensate a worker it dropped "like a hot potato" as soon his workers' comp entitlements ceased, blasting its "disappointing and disturbing" failure to inform itself of its obligations to workers who can't work because of injury or illness.

The Fair Work Commission has given the parties to a stop-bullying application the choice of two "pathways", after hearing an employer with an outdated anti-bullying policy reacted to a worker's complaints with a threatening "my way or the highway" directive.

Workplace concussions, including seemingly mild head injuries, can involve drawn out recovery times for workers, according to US researchers, who recommend mental health screening to identify risk factors for complications.

A commission has rejected an incapacitated worker's claim that his well-resourced employer should have covered his long-term absence with temporary staff while he recovered from his injuries, instead of dismissing him.

All workers including contractors will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter SPC sites, under a safety scheme involving paid leave, the packaged fruit manufacturer has announced in an Australian first.

A study of nearly 3,000 workers has found that the slack provision of employment standards for break lengths and other entitlements increases the risk of injuries and illnesses, and the problem is significantly exacerbated by inadequate safety controls.