What Constitutes ‘Reasonable Management Action’?
Employment Law: 08 April 2025
Author: Bianca Mazzarella and Imogen Timms - Our People
Managers need to be able to direct and supervise their staff. Inevitably, a question then arises as to what constitutes reasonable directives and action from managers.
As one law graduate found out the hard way at the Fair Work Commission, being asked to not fall asleep during meetings and not browse the internet on work time is reasonable management action.
What is reasonable management action?
The Commission paid attention to the decision of Commissioner Hampton in Re SB to determine what constitutes reasonable management action.
Commissioner Hampton held that:
“Determining whether management action is reasonable requires an objective assessment of the action in the context of the circumstances and knowledge of those involved at the time". Without limiting that assessment, the considerations might include:
• the circumstances that led to and created the need for the management action to be
taken;
• the circumstances while the management action was being taken; and
• the consequences that flowed from the management action.
Whether the management action was taken in a reasonable manner may depend on the action, the facts and circumstances giving rise to the requirement for action, the way in which the action impacts upon the worker and the circumstances in which the action was implemented and any other relevant matters.”
Commission Hampton also noted that what’s ‘reasonable’ is a factual enquiry, that requires an objective test to assess.
Remaining cognisant of the decision in Re SB, Deputy Commission Dean found that all the performance concerns raised with the Applicant were rightfully bought to his attention in an “appropriate” and “professional” manner. As such, the Applicant was not found to have been bullied.
The Facts
The Applicant commenced working in a government department as a law graduate. The Applicant alleged that multiple supervisors engaged in conduct that constituted bullying.
One of the Applicant’s supervisors emailed him to organise a conversation to see how the Applicant was settling into his new job, and feedback about his performance.
When asked for clarification about the agenda for the meeting, the supervisor extrapolated on their concerns about the Applicant. This included arriving to meetings late as well as an excessive use of work time being used for personal tasks, such as real estate research during meetings. The email also detailed the Applicant “drifting off” during meetings.
The Applicant claimed that this constituted “bullying” as it was “menacing”. Further, the Applicant claimed that participation in video meetings via Microsoft Teams constituted illegal video surveillance.
Deputy President Dean found that this “clearly” was not a matter of bullying. Rather, the supervisor was providing an indication of the feedback to be discussed as requested, in a “reasonable and appropriate” manner.
The Commission found that the guidance provided to the Applicant regarding his written work was “more than adequate” given the depth of instructions and feedback. Every example the Applicant attempted to use to bolster allegations of bullying were, in reality, “examples of reasonable management action undertaken in a reasonable manner”.
Key Takeaways
Reasonable management action is context dependent. What is considered fair on the employee will depend on what is being asked of them, and how this message is being conveyed. If you would like to discuss stop bulling notices or reasonable management action, contact Aitken Partners’ experienced Employment Law Team on (03) 8600 6000 to discuss your options.