An injured worker has unsuccessfully argued he was fit to perform his normal role when he was dismissed, with his claim contradicted by his constant complaints of pain while performing alternative duties.
A commission has rejected an employer's claim that it was unable to make reasonable return-to-work adjustments for a worker who suffered a cardiac arrest, finding it ignored medical advice that his work capacity could improve with "an appropriate period of work hardening".
A lawyer exhibited obvious signs of distress from performing three roles and working excessive hours for the Coroners Court of Victoria, yet her managers decided her declining health was unrelated to work, and provided her with little support in her role or while she was on sick leave, an inquiry into her death has found.
A world-first study has found workers who sustain electrical injuries are more likely than other injured employees to take long-term sick leave, which could be explained by return-to-work processes overlooking the psychological impact of electric shock and burn incidents.
A major government employer's attempt to return an injured worker to full duties was an "abject failure" that caused the man to suffer mental injuries, a tribunal has found. It found the employer misapplied an independent medical examination report in its "unyielding" efforts to deny the man sick leave.
Work issues can increase the risk of pregnant workers going on to experience postpartum depression, and employers are being urged to train up "family-supportive supervisors" to support work-life balance and returning to work after maternity leave.
An employer did not unfairly dismiss an injured worker by declining to await the results of an untried medical treatment or invent an alternative role for him, a commission has found.
A major government employer ignored "clear warnings" and recommendations from a worker and its own doctor on minimising the impact of a major workplace change, exacerbating the vulnerable worker's psychological injury and incapacitating her for work, a tribunal has found.
A commission has admonished a worker, who was dismissed after repeatedly failing to attend independent medical examinations, for engaging in a "game of semantics" around her employer's requests and stymying its attempts to ensure she was fit to return to work.
