Further to our developing series on workplace mental health, this employee claimed incapacity due to hospitalisation for mental health but was still able to brief a lawyer, make a bullying complaint and lodge an application from his hospital bed. Nevertheless, this is perfectly understandable and Deputy President Kovacic found that this was an exceptional circumstance warranting an extension of time. See the case at https://www.fwc.gov.au/documents/decisionssigned/html/2016FWC143.htm . Once again, the lessons are that if there are signs of a person with mental health issues, you need to be proactive in opening a conversation with that person. Something as simple as “Are you OK?” can do wonders (and not just for legal reasons).
Welcome back and trust you are all back into the swing in 2016!
Chris
