Browsing: Coronavirus, COVID-19 | Page 10

A worker who was "strongly encouraged" by his employer to get vaccinated against COVID-19, before sustaining an incapacitating injury from his booster shot, has been denied compensation, under a system where a dispute with "some merit" is enough to block a person's access to benefits.

Two-thirds of employees who work from home experience mild to severe neck, shoulder and lower back pain, while many self-report poorer performance at home than in the office, a study has found, identifying poor home-office ergonomics as the main contributing factor.

A pharmaceutical company that sourced ethanol in bulk to produce hand sanitiser for the COVID-19 pandemic, and disregarded its workers' storage-related safety concerns, has been fined nearly $300,000 after its premises caught fire and the chemical polluted a nearby pond.

Australia is expected to see a surge in flu, respiratory syncytial virus and COVID-19 cases over the next few weeks, and hygiene services experts have called for businesses to protect themselves and their employees by creating safer and more hygienic work environments.

A paramedic who claimed she was unable to comply with a COVID-19 vaccine mandate because of her "flu-like symptoms" has been blocked from pursuing her late unfair dismissal claim, with a Fair Work Commission full bench finding her illness was not a valid reason for her late application or her vaccine non-compliance.

The COVID-19 support initiatives an Australian health service implemented for its workers had an overwhelming positive impact on wellbeing, with more than three-quarters reporting improvements to their mental health and ability to cope with pandemic-related stress and anxiety, a study has found.

One of the growing number of employers charged with COVID-related workplace health and safety breaches has been sentenced in Victoria. In Queensland, a PCBU has been fined after its failure to act on safety complaints led to a worker suffering serious wrist injuries.

Employers continue to have a pandemic-related WHS duty to ensure all workers who can work remotely do so, the Australian Council of Trade Unions has claimed, following its executive meeting on the nation's high number of COVID-19 cases.

A long-serving pilot who was sacked for not complying with his airline's COVID-19 vaccination policy has had his unfair dismissal claim upheld by a commission, which identified substantial procedural unfairness against the worker.

A Fair Work Commission full bench has upheld an appeal by a worker who claimed his employer took unlawful adverse action against him by sacking him because he followed COVID-19 isolation orders.