What does reasonable management action really mean?

From time to time, it will become apparent to an employer that an employee isn’t fulfilling their position to an optimal standard. In such a circumstance, employers are able to take ‘reasonable management action’ to get an employee’s performance, behaviour or attitude back on track.

It’s not uncommon for employees, who are subject to reasonable management action(s) and potentially facing dismissal for bad behaviour to allege that they’re being bullied. However, employers can rest assured that so long as their reasonable management actions are undertaken in a reasonable manner, under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), the actions will not be defined as bullying.

Let’s explore what these terms mean.

What does ‘management action’ mean?

The Fair Work Commission prescribes that ‘management action’ can include:

• Commencing performance management processes;
• Investigating alleged misconduct;
• Taking disciplinary actions for workplace misconduct;
• Informing an employee that their performance is unsatisfactory;
• Informing an employee that their workplace behaviour is inappropriate;
• Directing an employee to perform duties that are inherent to their role; or
• Taking action to maintain reasonable workplace standards.

When is management action ‘reasonable’?

There’s no one definition of what is and isn’t ‘reasonable’ management action. To determine what is reasonable, employers should objectively assess:

• The chain of events leading up to the management action;
• The specific circumstance that warranted management action being taken; and
• The consequences of the management action.

What does ‘undertaken in a reasonable manner’ mean?

Similar to the above, whether management action is ‘undertaken in a reasonable manner’ is an objective assessment to be made by the employer. The employer should consider the type of action they’re going to take, the circumstances giving rise to the need for such an action, how the action is going to be taken and how this action will impact the employee. Evidently, what is perceived as ‘reasonable management action’ is highly contextual. It’s therefore essential that you implement effective workplace policies and procedures that you can rely upon and that you contact a HR professional to discuss the matters before you should you require assistance.

Citation HR’s HR Advice Line will give you the best perspective you could ask for. This team of qualified HR experts – available 24/7 – helps businesses across Australia and NZ to strike a balance between what they want to do to protect their business, HR-wise, and what the law allows. This means that – thanks to Citation HR’s guidance – the chance of making a mistake around an employee’s rights is minimised.

Citation HR’s help is so reliable, we’ve put the promise in writing

With Citation HR in your corner, you can rest easy knowing that if an employment-related claim is made against your business, we’ll be there to protect you with our Advice Promise. The trusted advice we deliver has been designed to prevent employment claims from occurring in the first place, but sometimes they’re unavoidable. With our Advice Promise your business will have peace of mind knowing that we’ll stand by you with legal representation and paying of damages if a claim does surface.

About our author

Carla Novacevski is a Workplace Relations Advisor based at Citation HR. In her role, Carla tends to address client queries via the HR Advice Line. She is currently completing a Bachelor of Commerce and Law, majoring in Accounting, and is passionate about expanding her knowledge through a variety of placements in multiple areas of law.