This extract from a recent unfair dismissal case deals with the issue of trust and confidence in an employment relationship, and its importance.
“I observe that none of the managers or supervisors who had responsibility for the work
of (or worked with) the Applicant were called to give evidence about their views on his
reinstatement.122 The analysis of Gray J in AMIEU v G&K O’Connor Pty Ltd123 is thus germane
to the present case:
“The law relating to the need for trust and confidence in an employment relationship
was developed at a time when employment invariably involved a close personal
relationship between employer and employee. The advent of corporate employers has
diminished the importance of this element of the employment relationship. A
corporation has no sensitivity. The crucial question must be what effect, if any, loss of
trust by a manager in an employee is likely to have on the operation of the workplace
concerned. It might be more significant, for instance, to know the name of Mr Voss’s
immediate supervisor and to know the attitude of that person towards him. If the
immediate supervisor had no trust in Mr Voss, it might also be relevant to know whether
it would be possible to place Mr Voss in another part of the workplace, under another
supervisor, who did have such trust. It would also be relevant to know what effect any
lack of trust by any manager or supervisor in a particular employee might have on the
conduct of operations in the workplace. There is no evidence as to any of these
matters”.
Al-Buseri v NSW Trains T/A NSW TrainLink [2023] FWC 1517 delivered 24 July 2023 per Boyce DP