Encouraging employees to socialise out of hours is good leadership practice, but employers should reconsider whether such encouragement extends to "kicking on" into the night, a Fair Work Commissioner has said in an unfair dismissal dispute.
Comcare has assured Commonwealth agencies and licensees that their premiums won't increase as a result of the ACT leaving the scheme, while the Federal Employment Minister says he hopes to scrap "over generous" workers' comp benefits that make the scheme unviable for entities like the ACT.
Employers are being urged to apply higher-order hazard controls wherever practicable, after a new Safe Work Australia report found that more than three in five workers are regularly exposed to multiple hazards associated with occupational diseases.
A major UK study has identified a link between "fit notes" - which are being introduced in some areas of Australia - and a "downward trend" in long-term sick leave taken by workers.
The Federal Government has introduced an SRC Amendment Bill to enable Comcare to collect "exit contributions" from authorities that leave the scheme, after the ACT revealed plans to develop a workers' comp system that covers its public sector employees.
A major project has found that improving written communication sent to injured workers, removing "duplication of effort" and simplifying correspondence with treating doctors accelerates the return-to-work process, according to a workers' comp expert.
A special Safe Work Australia report has found that while almost all construction employers take steps to identify and remove hazards, nearly one in three workers feel their conditions prevent them from working safely, and many believe that substance abuse is one of the "main possible causes" of injury.
An employer has reduced the number of its open workers' comp claims from more than 300 in NSW alone to 80 nationally in five years, after introducing an injury management system with "injury monitoring" and post-surgery return-to-work plans.