Browsing: Bullying | Page 9

A government employer has failed in its latest challenge against a finding that it is liable for a worker's psychological injury caused by a colleague's racist taunts, this time arguing the courts ignored an "admission" of a pre-existing mental illness diagnosis.

An employer and its HR manager have been penalised for unlawful adverse actions, after a "welfare check" on a worker quickly escalated into her dismissal because the manager didn't want to deal with her bullying allegations.

• Company officer charged with bullying and causing breaches;
  
• First anti-harassment audit completed in mining campaign; and
  
• Injury fraudster sentenced after probe into ambulance calls.

An employer has been granted permission to contest a bullying claim, in a case that hinged on the exact date a manager "received" an email containing the claim forms.

"Covert" online bullying, domestic violence and being overlooked for promotion are just some of the psychosocial hazards faced by flexible and hybrid workers, and are issues employers and WHS managers are struggling to tackle, according to two senior WHS lawyers.

Six of Australia's eight harmonised jurisdictions have now implemented regulations explicitly requiring PCBUs to tackle psychosocial risks through a risk management process, with the latest, the Northern Territory, choosing to mirror the national model clauses instead of opting for variations adopted by two jurisdictions.

Canberra businesses that contravene their WHS duties will be more likely to end up in court under a "hybrid" prosecutorial model championed by a WHS regulator. They also face hefty on-the-spot WHS fines under changes commencing today.

Workers who see psychosocial hazards as "part of the job", or fear being blamed for complaining, are unlikely to report incidents, making it particularly difficult for employers to identify and control risks, a senior safety lawyer says.

An appeals commission has upheld a physically and psychologically injured worker's claims, in a dispute over whether CCTV footage of an incident actually showed the woman sustaining an injury.

A commissioner has upheld the sacking of a supervisor who failed to investigate reports that a subordinate was breaching conduct and safety policies by regularly s-xually harassing co-workers by rubbing his genitals at work.