The FWC acknowledged several mitigating circumstances that arose directly from the worker’s role at the Fremantle Justice Complex (FJC). These included the worker’s interaction with a difficult Person of Interest (POI) on the day of the incident, which likely contributed to his heightened state, and the challenges faced by Custody Officers in dealing with understaffing and inexperienced colleagues.
The FWC also recognized the importance of psychosocial health in the workplace, particularly in environments like the FJC where employees are routinely subjected to abuse and the underlying threat of physical violence from PICs and POIs. The decision emphasized the need for a nuanced view of punishment for employees who break the rules in such challenging circumstances.
“The employees are routinely subjected to abuse from PICs and POIs that could not be tolerated if directed by an employee towards a fellow worker in the [employer]’s or any other workplace. [They] are routinely subjected to comments that would be unlawful if made to a person walking past on the street,” the FWC said.
“Further, all of this goes on with, in many instances, the underlying threat of physical violence. While the [employer] has some measures in place via its training programs to provide its employees with tools to deal with the realities of their workplace and to guide them at times when they feel they may be unable to maintain their composure, such tools are imprecise instruments.”
“They cannot realistically be otherwise as they are trying to cope with human emotions which are incredibly complex. This is not to suggest that the [employer] does not genuinely wish to equip its employees to deal with the very real issues they face at work, nor is it to suggest that the [employer] has fallen short in its duties,” the FWC said.