Public service employees may request a review and appeal certain decisions that affect their employment.
Appeals can be made against:
- decisions under a directive, including independent medical examinations, performance improvement plans
- section 187 discipline decisions finding a disciplinary ground exists
- suspension without pay decisions
- promotion decisions, other than non-appealable appointments
- transfer decisions
- conversion decisions (non-conversion of a casual or fixed term temporary employee after two years, hours offered on conversion, non-appointment to a higher classification level after two years)
- fair treatment decisions
- direction decisions under section 88IA, only to the extent the direction affects an employee.
Periodically the Public Service Commission publishes ‘notable’ cases to provide agencies and employees considering an appeal with information about decisions made by the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission (QIRC). The decisions of the QIRC are only binding between the parties but may be referenced for guidance when considering an appeal.
Note that where the legislation has been amended, some notable cases may lose relevance. As implementation of the public sector employment reforms progresses, the PSC will continue to review and may remove or replace some notable cases.
1. Decisions under a directive
2. Casual employment
3. Temporary employment
- Nature of project may be a genuine operational reason
- Katae v State of Queensland
- Qualifying Service
- Examination of other roles
- Conversion of a temporary employee to permanent; consideration of ongoing funding
- Agency's failure to properly apply directive resulted in temporary employment decision being not fair and reasonable
- Disciplinary action and the Temporary Employment Directive
4. Promotion, recruitment and selection
- Conflict of interest–employee sought to influence recruitment process
- Potential bias in promotion process 1
- Potential bias in promotion process 2
- Reviewability of selection decisions and process deficiency in recruitment and selection
- Confidentiality in a recruitment and selection process
- Fair interview process – applicant provided with the wrong interview questions
- Inappropriate considerations when making a promotion decision; panel members socialising with applicants at work events
- Potential conflict of interest; unevenly weighted recruitment process
- Use of the same or similar questions in recruitment processes
5. Discipline
- Open to the decision-maker to make a post-employment disciplinary declaration
- Disciplinary action of reduction in classification level and consequential change of duties
- Ceasing penalty payments not a consideration in determining whether disciplinary action is fair and reasonable
- Misuse of an employee's official position
- Appropriate use of transfer as a disciplinary action; and combining misconduct and breaches of Code of Conduct under section 187 of the Act
- Unacceptable length of time for discipline decision resulted in reduction in disciplinary action
- Agency's delay in issuing show cause notice prior to making disciplinary declaration decision was not significant to influence outcome on appeal
- Recording workplace conversations
- Impact of employee co-operation on disciplinary penalty
- Conflict of interest; constructive steps must be taken to rehabilitate a disciplined employee
- Discipline decisions can be made on the balance of probabilities where there is no corroborating evidence
