Join our JFM Law team as we answer your FAQs about General Protections.
Transcript
What is a general protections claim?
The general protections claim is a type of claim that an employee can make if they believe that their employer has taken adverse action against them in accordance with them exercising their workplace rights under the Fair Work Act. So, workplace rights are things like accessing personal leave, sick leave, accessing parental leave, even making a workplace complaint such as a bullying complaint can be exercising a workplace right.
What are the possible outcomes of a general protection claim?
The possible outcomes of a general protections claim depend on the specific circumstances of the case and the evidence presented. If a general protection claim is successful, the following outcomes may be available:
- Compensation;
- Reinstatement;
- Changes to renumeration;
- Injunctions;
- Apology; or
- Corrective action.
And the claim has to outline what sort of remedies you’re seeking, which are typically financial compensation, usually by reference to a certain number of weeks or months of pay. But general protections claims are uncapped in terms of the compensation that you can seek. So, for people who have really been seriously impacted by the action of their employer, they may look to also seek damages, which is compensation for hurt and distress.
What should you do if you are the victim of sexual harassment, victimisation, or discrimination in the workplace?
If you are the victim of sexual harassment or discrimination in the workplace, you most likely have a serious general protections claim. We would typically recommend by that you start by lodging a complaint with your employer to ensure that your employer is on notice of the fact that you believe you’re suffering from this harassment or discrimination. Sometimes your employer simply isn’t aware of that, and it might be a matter of either taking action to separate you from, say, a manager or someone who is who is responsible for that conduct, or the employer might also look to do other things that are more broad reaching, such as refresher trainings internally to make sure that people know how to properly treat their colleagues in the workplace. If your employer doesn’t respond appropriately to a complaint that you make, then we would recommend that you consider making a general protections claim to ensure that you are sufficiently protected, because typically these situations do get worse.
Should you seek legal advice or report it to any external parties?
We would recommend, if you believe that you’re suffering from some sort of adverse action or ongoing discrimination, bullying, harassment, that you definitely reach out for legal advice. You can also reach out to other services such as the Fair Work Ombudsman, who can point you in the direction of materials and other resources that you might find useful just to educate yourself on what is unlawful and steps that you can take yourself before incurring significant legal costs.
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The information contained in this post is current at the date of publishing – 14 June 2023.
