Navigating Mental Health Concerns During Termination Processes

The following should not be considered legal advice and is for general use only.

Data shows us that over 4.6% of Australians live with some form of psychosocial disability. That’s more than 1.1 million people – and some of them could be working for you.  

From neurodivergence, to mental illness and psychosocial disability, mental health risks are serious and on the rise.  

This underscores the importance of maintaining a healthy, inclusive and supportive workplace culture – it’s not only the right thing to do, it can reduce the risk of breaching your legal obligations as an employer.  

From the Disability Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth), to the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), and the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Act 1986 (Cth), there is a myriad of laws which employers need to be intimately aware of when considering termination of employment.  

While terminating someone’s employment is inherently stressful on all stakeholders, we encourage employers to follow best practice during the termination process to accommodate mental health risks even where they are not obviously impacting on the employee in question. Taking this mindful approach goes a long way to avoiding breaches of your legal obligations.

To read Danny King’s recent presentation on this topic, click here.

The above should not be considered legal advice and is for general use only.