The media was in a frenzy today about a young childcare worker who was dismissed last year for breaching the organisational policy on ‘backbiting’. Fair Work Australia found she had been unfairly dismissed and today awarded her just under $10K in damages.

You can’t outlaw human nature but you can make it clear to people that they potentially threaten their employment through toxic, divisive and malicious acts of badness. You can also run an organisation that lives good values, try to recruit people who want to play nice, treat staff fairly and equitably, lead them well, make good decisions and give them less to malign you over.

The word “gossip” sounds tame but when gossip and rumour mongering morphs into undermining, ridicule and exclusion, you haven’t got political correctness gone mad. You have full-on bullying. Ask kids in the playground if they recognise it when they see it or have it done to them.

Whilst it may appear at first glance that people can be very unprofessional and seemingly get away with it, bear in mind that Fair Work Australia is required to do a thorough examination of process by adjudging whether or not the employer a) had a valid reason for dismissal and b) if they went about it the right way.

If the young claimant was asked to work to a vague policy, was not accorded natural justice and the ‘punishment was considered disproportionate to the crime’, then she was treated unduly harshly, unjustly or unreasonably and her dismissal was therefore unfair.

However wouldn’t it be nice if we could focus our energy on building great culture and rewarding positive behaviours than trying to scare people into submission with a gun to their heads?