A Timely Reminder to Review Your Club’s Policies

The recent FWC decision involved the Western Sydney Migrant Resource Centre Ltd (WSMRC) and an employee who successfully challenged WSMRC’s decision to terminate her employment following a breach of a workplace procedure — namely, she had deleted data from an on-call “emergency contact” mobile phone before taking a period of leave and leaving the phone with a colleague. When the employee returned, she was informed that she had been suspended due to the data being deleted from the phone. Following an investigation, the employee was then dismissed, and she lodged an unfair dismissal claim.

The employee’s contract stipulated that employees were prohibited from destroying client records. In addition, WSMRC’s procedure manual prohibited the removal of client data without authorisation. In response, the employee claimed that there were no client records on the mobile phone and no one had ever called her on the emergency contact mobile phone. The FWC found that the removal of client data from the mobile phone without relevant authorisation was a valid reason for dismissal, noting that the “potential damage this conduct could cause is reasonably obvious”. 

However, the FWC noted that WSMRC’s procedure manual was “long, complex and legalistic” and that the manual’s prohibition of deleting data from work-related phones and the serious consequences of doing so was “far from clear or obvious” in the manual. This was also compounded by the fact that English was not the employee’s first language. 

The FWC outlined that workplace policies should unambiguously spell out any requirements to employees so that they are easily understood and complied with. Furthermore, the FWC noted that there was little evidence that WSMRC had ensured its employees had read and understood the procedure manual. 

Ultimately, the FWC found the employee’s dismissal to be harsh, unjust and unreasonable as the matter was not properly investigated as to whether the employee had in fact deleted client records, nor did the procedure manual have any “connection at all with the WSMRC’s everyday practices regarding phones”.

The decision is a timely reminder to check that your club’s policies and procedures:

• Are drafted in clear and simple language and spell out the consequences for breaching the policy
• Are easily accessible to employees to read e.g. on the intranet that all employees have access to, and that employees receive training on the key policies
• Reflect the club’s current work and operational practices
• Are communicated to staff and there are records that all employees have read and understood them.

Should you need any advice regarding your club’s policies and procedures, please contact ClubASSIST on 1300 730 001 or via [email protected].