The Burnout Bill
Things have changed in Victoria
For years this bill was largely insured, WorkCover claims carried the cost while your premium absorbed it later. That isn't how it works any more.
Since 31 March 2024 Victoria excludes mental injury caused predominantly by stress or burnout, typically there is now no claim or payout. The cost didn't disappear, it lost its insurer and is now your problem.
Where the burnout becomes bullying, harassment or a forced exit it turns back into a claim, this time with no income threshold and no cap, and as of December 2025 preventing it is a positive legal duty you can be prosecuted for ignoring.
if contained
if unchecked
Basis of estimate
- Time lost. Safe Work Australia, Key Work Health & Safety Statistics 2025 (2022–23 data): mental-health claims have a median 35.7 weeks lost, almost 5× the 7.4-week median across all serious claims, and a median compensation of $67,400. Mental-health conditions are 17.2% of women's claims vs 8.2% of men's.
- Return to work. WorkSafe Victoria / Victorian Government: only 42% of workers with a mental injury return within six months; broader scheme data puts return within a year at roughly half.
- Replacement. Australian and international benchmarks (SHRM, Deloitte, local recruiters): 30–150% of salary for most roles, exceeding 200% for senior and specialist roles once recruitment, onboarding, lost knowledge and ramp are counted.
- The claim line. Fair Work Act s.392: unfair dismissal is capped at the lesser of 26 weeks' pay or half the high income threshold = $91,550 (threshold $183,100 from 1 July 2025), and applies only below that threshold. General protections (adverse action, s.340) carry no income threshold and no cap. Above the threshold shows six months' pay as a conservative estimate rather than a ceiling.
- The duty. OHS (Psychological Health) Regulations 2025 (Vic), SR 103/2025, commenced 1 December 2025: a positive duty to identify and eliminate or reduce psychosocial hazards, enforceable by improvement and prohibition notices and prosecution.
- Scale. Beyond Blue estimates untreated workplace mental-health conditions cost Australian business in the order of $10.9 billion a year.
An estimate for board-level discussion, not legal, actuarial or financial advice. Figures are modelled as shares of salary against the sources above and will vary by role, industry and circumstance. The claim line is a statutory anchor, not a prediction of any individual outcome.
You don't HAVE to pay this bill. You can do something about it - www.nicolebateman.coach
