Queensland Consolidated Acts

PUBLIC SERVICE ACT 2008 - SECT 187

187 Grounds for discipline

(1) A public service employee’s chief executive may discipline the employee if the chief executive is reasonably satisfied the employee has—

(a) engaged in repeated unsatisfactory performance or serious under performance of the employee’s duties, including, for example, by performing duties carelessly, incompetently or inefficiently; or

(b) been guilty of misconduct; or

(c) been absent from duty without approved leave and without reasonable excuse; or

(d) contravened, without reasonable excuse, a direction given to the employee as a public service employee by a responsible person; or

(e) used, without reasonable excuse, a substance to an extent that has adversely affected the competent performance of the employee’s duties; or

(ea) contravened, without reasonable excuse, a requirement of the chief executive under section 179A (1) in relation to the employee’s appointment, secondment or employment by, in response to the requirement—

(i) failing to disclose a serious disciplinary action; or

(ii) giving false or misleading information; or

(f) contravened, without reasonable excuse, a provision of this Act; or

(g) contravened, without reasonable excuse, a relevant standard of conduct in a way that is sufficiently serious to warrant disciplinary action.

(2) A disciplinary ground arises when the act or omission constituting the ground is done or made.

(3) Also, a chief executive may discipline, on the same grounds mentioned in subsection (1) —

(a) a public service employee under section 187A ; or

(b) a former public service employee under section 188A .

(4) In this section—

"misconduct" means—

(a) inappropriate or improper conduct in an official capacity; or

(b) inappropriate or improper conduct in a private capacity that reflects seriously and adversely on the public service.

Example of misconduct—

victimising another public service employee in the course of the other employee’s employment in the public service

"relevant standard of conduct" , for a public service employee, means—

(a) a standard of conduct applying to the employee under an approved code of conduct under the Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 ; or

(b) a standard of conduct, if any, applying to the employee under an approved standard of practice under the Public Sector Ethics Act 1994 .

"responsible person" , for a direction, means a person with authority to give the direction, whether the authority derives from this Act or otherwise.