We are seeing a significant upwards trend in workforce reshaping, disciplinary activity, and redundancies. This is being primarily driven by two factors: unusual employee retention, and, economic conditions.
On the ground we are seeing that employees are retaining their roles, fatigued by covid experience and cost of living pressures, natural employee attrition cycles are interrupted. As a result, we are seeing an increase in disengaged or underperforming employees that would normally have sought new employment opportunities.
We are also working with businesses responding to exciting merger and acquisition opportunities, and major technology investments that impact workforce requirements. As well as other businesses that are responding to, or taking advantage of, current economic conditions to reduce roles they may have been historically carrying.
However, according to Denton’s the odds are stacked against employers in Australia when it comes to employee motivated disputes and litigation. Recent data from the Fair Work Commission shows the total number of employee claims against employers increased by 27% in the 2024 reporting year, the highest number of claims since 2010.
Employees are more aware of their industrial rights than ever before, and our federal workplace relations system provides a smorgasbord of workplace rights for them to choose from both during and after employment. Any action to mitigate litigation can be a significant corporate cost-saving initiative. Ultimately, there is no way to eliminate the risk of lawsuits from employees, but here are 5 proactive steps the team at Envisage HR Solutions takes to minimise our clients risk:
- Document due process
- Compliant employment contracts and policies
- Deliver compliance training with educational outcomes
- Independent and experienced workplace investigators
- Monitor the legal landscape and emerging risks
Tip: Get us involved early and often – don’t wait for an incident to escalate. Pick up the phone for a quick chat anytime.