About the author

Greg Reiffel Consulting works exclusively for employers – acting as a powerful advocate in all areas of Workplace/Industrial Relations and Human Resources Management. (Unfair Dismissals are a speciality). His business grows by referrals. I would appreciate it if you would pass my details on to your colleagues, clients or associates who could benefit from my skill set. Defending/Preventing unfair dismissals, policies and procedures, contracts of employment, codes of conduct and more…

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Introduction

Under the heading “Using the science of ‘nudge theory’ to improve access and promote compliance”, the Fair Work Commission has published the outcomes of its first behavioural insights project, led by the Behavioural Insights Team.

The report Promoting compliance through behavioural insights (PDF) looks at how behavioural insights techniques could be applied to reduce costs and barriers to access for employers and employees who use the Commission’s services, and improve overall compliance with unfair dismissal and enterprise agreement lodgement requirements.

According to the FWC:

  • Behavioural insights – also known as ‘nudge theory’ – draws on cognitive science, psychology and behavioural economics to understand the unconscious biases and motivations that influence how people think, make decisions and behave, with the goal of helping people make timely and informed decisions.
  • It has begun implementing a number of initiatives to improve its processes and the information it provides to the public, and it will continue working to implement other recommendations in the report over the coming months.
  • This project is an initiative of the Commission’s What’s Next strategy which focuses on improving access and reduce complexity for our users.

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