A worker who fell out with a colleague on an overseas holiday, before sustaining a psychiatric injury, has been awarded workers' compensation, after a tribunal found the original cause of the conflict was irrelevant.
New anti-bullying laws and other industrial relations reforms passed Queensland Parliament early this morning. The changes, according to one MP, are desperately needed to tackle the widespread "toxic" working environments within local government.
Ten per cent of Australian workers have been bullied at work, and in 62 per cent of cases the perpetrator was a supervisor, according to one of two new major Safe Work Australia reports on the issue.
A worker who claimed her colleagues ganged up on her has been refused stop-bullying orders, after the Fair Work Commission found a "significant degree of hype and competition" at her workplace led her to perceive bullying conduct.
The Fair Work Commission has upheld the sacking of a worker who sent repeated unwelcomed text messages to a colleague, after finding the messages sent outside of work hours still had implications for the employer.
In a decision that could broaden the coverage of anti-bullying laws, a Fair Work Commission full bench has quashed a finding that a state government agency isn't a trading corporation.
The Fair Work Commission has refused a worker stop-bullying orders against two colleagues, but recommended their employer, a safety regulator, implement a "workplace culture improvement plan" to improve interpersonal relationships in their team.
The High Court has found that the reasonable administrative action exclusion in workers' comp laws blocks psychological injury claims arising from the "real or imagined" consequences of such action, such as being bullied by a manager.
Employers should ban the taking of photographs - for use on social media - at end-of-year work functions to mitigate the risk of bullying complaints, a WHS lawyer says. Meanwhile, a regulator has urged employers to carefully plan tasks during the notoriously hazardous pre-Christmas rush.
Proposed anti-bullying laws in Queensland are under threat, with a parliamentary committee failing to agree on whether to pass the State Government's 800-page industrial relations Bill. Meanwhile, another committee has recommended passing Australia's final mirror rail safety Bill.
