What is: The Rights and Responsibilities of a Manager

Why is this important and what’s my role?

As a manager, you’re given the power to make decisions according to your role and delegations. You should aim to always make fair and reasonable decisions. While you might delegate some decisions to your staff, in line with the Delegations Manual, there are decisions that only you can make. Remember that taking no action or not making a decision, is also still a decision.

Your authority to make decisions

Your decision-making authority stems from a number of sources, including:

• the Public Sector Act (Qld) 2022
• the ‘delegations’ assigned to your position.

The Public Sector Act 2022

The Public Sector Act (Qld) 2022 places specific obligations on managers.

Section 40

(2) A public sector manager must take all reasonable steps to ensure each public sector employee under the manager’s management is aware of the following matters—

(a) the work performance and personal conduct expected of the employee;
(b) the public sector principles;
(c) the values of the public sector entity in which the employee is employed;
(d) for a public service employee—the values of the public service;
(e) what constitutes corrupt conduct under the Crime and Corruption Act 2001.

(3) Also, a public sector manager must—

(d) undertake best practice human resource management, including the application of the positive performance management principles in the following ways—

(i) pro-actively managing the work performance and personal conduct of public sector employees;
(ii) constructively engaging with public sector employees to identify development and training opportunities, improve work performance, and build expertise in the public sector;
(iii) taking prompt and appropriate action to address any unacceptable work performance or personal conduct that arises…

The delegations assigned to your position

Delegations are essentially your authority to make certain decisions in a range of areas, including:

• financial
• human resource
• contractual / procurement

Reasonable management action

What’s reasonable management action?

The concept of ‘reasonable management action’ exists in legislation to protect managers when they have to make difficult decisions when managing staff. Questions of reasonable management action often arise when there’s been disciplinary action, a workplace investigation, a sanctioning or a poor performance review. Decisions considered to be reasonable management action will be protected by the organisation if challenged.

Reasonable action doesn’t mean that actions are perfect or ideal.

What’s NOT reasonable management action?

In trying to understand what constitutes reasonable management action, it’s useful to know what’s not reasonable management action. Any bullying or harassment is not considered reasonable management action. Here are some examples of things that the Fair Work Commission have held are NOT reasonable.

• Using disciplinary procedures disproportionately, e.g. performance managing an employee just because they were late to work once or twice.
• Conducting a spontaneous disciplinary meeting with no prior warning or consultation.
• Standing over an employee for regular, extended periods of time to observe their work.
• Berating an employee or making threats to dismiss them in front of their work colleagues.
• Sending a workplace email to all staff disclosing the name and details of a poorly performing employee who has been subject to disciplinary action.
• Intentionally embarrassing or belittling an employee.
• Requesting an independent medical examination for an employee just because they were off sick for a couple of days.

The ‘reasonable person test’

When considering whether management action is reasonable, the ‘reasonable person test’ is applied. Management actions are judged objectively, according to what a reasonable person would do in the circumstances.

The ‘reasonable person’ is a little better than the ‘average’ person’.

• They’re quite risk-conscious, a little careful with activities, and very thoughtful when it comes to looking out for possible risks and dangers.
• They’re not perfect and aren’t expected to make good decisions all the time.
• They take risks but they’re never reckless.

Natural justice

When you make decisions that affect others, you have to afford them natural justice. This means you have to:

• give people a fair hearing
• be unbiased.

Giving someone a ‘fair hearing’ means giving them:

• a chance to present their position
• reasonable access to information in order to present their position
• reasonable time to present their position.

Being ‘unbiased’ means you should not make a decision if you have a stake in the outcome.

Sound reasons

Your decisions must be made for sound reasons and based on good evidence, which can include circumstantial evidence and hearsay.

When you don’t have all the information you need, you don’t have to be satisfied ‘beyond reasonable doubt’, so long as it is ‘more likely than not’. If you make a decision that’s likely to be controversial and challenged in the future, make sure you document your reasons for making the decision.

What do I need to do?

In short, you need to:

• monitor your area of responsibility
• take action when you think there are issues
• be reasonable in your decisions.

Useful links

• Public Sector Act (Qld) 2022