Improve mental health in your workplace

Who is eligible to participate?

You can participate in the Mental Health Essentials program if you employ a significant number of young workers (under 25) and are:

• a small business (less than 20 employees)
• a medium-sized business (less than 200 employees)

How do I apply?

Register your interest using Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s online form. One of their consultants will contact you to confirm your eligibility and discuss the next steps.

What does the Mental Health Essentials program involve?

One of their expert consultants will visit your business twice and provide the following services:

Who pays for the Mental Health Essentials program?

The Mental Health Essentials program is supported by WorkSafe Victoria through the WorkWell Mental Health Improvement Fund.

It’s free for small and medium-sized businesses, however, they will expect you to demonstrate a genuine commitment to the program by:

• encouraging your workers and managers to attend training
• using WorkSafe’s WorkWell Toolkit to draft a mental health action plan and taking meaningful action on your chosen initiatives

Is information about my business confidential?

Yes. Any information that Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry collect about your business to provide the Mental Health Essentials program is confidential and will be handled according to their privacy policy.

WorkSafe Victoria funds the Mental Health Essentials program through the WorkWell program, but will not receive any information that identifies your business.

Learn more about your safety obligations and receive tailored advice on managing safety in your workplace with this free assessment service.

The Victorian government has released its proposed legislation to insert a workplace manslaughter bill into the Victorian Occupational Health & Safety Act (OHS Act).

This would create a new criminal offence of workplace manslaughter, being conduct of an employer or officer of the employer that is negligent and causes the death of an employee or member of the public.

Compliance with OHS Act duties is a complete defence

In the case of the employer, the offence will only be committed if the employer breaches a duty owed under the OHS Act. An example, is the employer’s duty to, so far as is reasonably practicable, provide and maintain for its employees a working environment that is safe and without risks to health.

OHS Act duties are owed by employers to employees, contractor’s employees, sole traders, and any members of the public that may be in or near the workplace.

If the employer complies with its duties under the OHS Act it will not commit this new offence.

What is negligent conduct?

An employer’s conduct will be negligent if it greatly falls short of the required standard of care, and, as a result of the conduct, there is a high risk of death, serious injury or serious illness. The offence can be committed by an employer that is not an individual person; i.e. bodies corporate, partnerships, unincorporated bodies and unincorporated associations.

In determining whether such an organisation is negligent, the focus will be on what the employer did or did not do compared with what a reasonable employer would have done or not done in the same circumstances.

Some of the ways an organisation might engage in negligent conduct causing death include:

• its unwritten rules, policies, work practices or conduct implicitly authorised non-compliance, or failed to create a culture of compliance, with its OHS Act duties, and death resulted from the negligent conduct;
• a number of individuals within the organisation, acting with the actual or apparent scope of their employment or authority of the organisation, did or did not do things that, when aggregated, amounted to negligent conduct of the organisation; and
• the organisation failed to take steps to prevent or minimise the risk of death, serious injury or serious illness.

The liability of an organisation will be reduced if a ‘rogue’ employee acts contrary to the policies and procedures of the body corporate.

Who is exempt?

Volunteers and employees who are not ‘officers’ will not be liable to commit the new offence of workplace manslaughter.

When is an officer negligent?

An officer is a director or an employee who participates in making decisions that affect the whole, or a substantial part, of the business of an organisation.

Relevant matters to determining whether an officer is negligent include:

• what the officer knew about the matter concerned;
• the extent of the officer’s ability to make, or participate in the making of decisions that affect the body corporate in relation to the matter concerned; and
• whether the contravention by the body corporate is also attributable to an act or omission of any other person.

Operation outside Victoria

Employers and officers situated outside Victoria may commit the offence of workplace manslaughter where the relevant conduct results in a workplace fatality in Victoria. Similarly, the fact the negligent conduct causes a workplace fatality outside Victoria will be no defence.

Article courtesy of Portner Press

An employee can be directed to take annual leave during a shut down if their award or registered agreement allows it.

What is a shut down?

A shut down is when a business temporarily closes during slow periods of the year, such as Christmas and New Year. It is also called a ‘close down’.

Depending on your award or registered agreement there may be a period of notice required to be given to the employee in the case of a business shut down.

For example, in the Transport, Retail, Clerical awards a minimum of 4 weeks’ notice is required to be given. In the Building & Construction Award the notice period is 2 months.

It is important that the check the requirements that apply for your business.

During this shut down period Employees can be directed to take annual leave.

If they don’t have sufficient leave to cover the shut down period, they will have to take all their accrued annual leave and then unpaid leave to make up the balance.

Public Holidays are still required to be paid for on the days that occur during this shut down period.

Staff continue to accrue leave entitlements as they normally would on any paid leave during this time.

But what if my award or agreement doesn’t allow this or even mention it?

If your award or agreement doesn’t have rules about annual leave during shut downs, an employer can’t direct an employee to take leave.

However, an employer and employee can agree that the employee takes annual leave (including in advance of accrual) or unpaid leave for the shut down time.

The employee can’t be forced to take unpaid leave, so if an agreement can’t be reached with their employer, they need to be paid their ordinary pay for the time.

What are the Public Holidays?

Public Holidays are still required to be paid for on the days that occur during this shut down period.

Make sure you know what public holidays are coming up. https://www.fairwork.gov.au/leave/public-holidays

Can Employees continue to work during a shut down?

If employees continue to work when a business shuts down they should be paid as normal.

If any of the days are public holidays, these days are treated as public holidays.

This means the employee should be given the day off without loss of pay or they should be paid public holiday rates as per their award or agreement.

Daytime temperatures are set to soar this summer, according to the Rural Fire Service, creating potential WHS risks and obligations for employers. At the plus 1 group we want your business to be prepared for what’s coming so make sure you have a hot weather policy in place.
It’s vitally important to have a policy for managing work during hot weather.

Your policy should provide general guidelines to help employees combat heat-stress. It should also provide information about identifying and preventing heat-related stress, for example through drinking and eating regularly and self-monitoring for signs of stress. Importantly, your policy should enable you to direct employees to carry out alternative duties or to send them home in extreme or unsafe hot weather conditions.

Need help? Contact our HR team at Plus 1 on 03 5833 3000 or hr@plus1group.com.au