Employer's failure to follow policies unreasonable
Article written by Deacons.
"The Commission has ordered Sydney South West Area Health Services (SSWAHS) to pay an employee 26 weeks pay on the ground that his employment was terminated unreasonably during a process of restructure within the organisation. Despite the existence of a voluntary redundancy policy which applied in circumstances of restructure, SSWAHS failed to consider this as an option for the employee and instead attempted to coerce him into accepting positions of lesser grades. When the employee refused to accept these positions the SSWAHS purported to terminate his employment for reasons relating to performance going back 6 years."
This is not the first time that SSWAHS has used these immoral strategies to force people out of their positions. One instance Socrates has heard about was in late 2008 when one of their bullies (Mr SF) told an Allied Health Professional, who had arranged to see a private client after his work hours at a SSWAHS facility, that he'd be reported to ICAC and the AHP's Registration Board for Corrupt Conduct. The AHP chose instead to resign - never to be replaced!
Socrates also met another middle manager who worked in the child and adolescent mental health field in Campbelltown. That person was highly respected as a fair and reasonable manager. When a staff member made a complaint that she was "being bullied" by the manager (who was simply asking the person to do their work) the SSWAHS response was to send the same Mr SF to see the manager and threaten them with investigations and reporting to their professional registration board. The manager chose to resign - and, as far as can be ascertained - not replaced.
It seems that 2008 and 2009 was big year for "terminations" in SSWAHS. One senior manager stated confidentially that if they couldn't get them any other way it would be by using complaints and threats against their professional status, or the "discovery" of something inappropriate in the way in which they used the organisation's computer network.
Certainly, Ms J W, of SSWAHS was known to micro manage all the discharging and terminations of staff from the organisation. But that was her idea of Clinical Governance in SSWAHS.
