Employers will soon be required to proactively take steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace and adopt new procedures for managing psychosocial risks, under new legislation committed to by the Federal Labor Government.
An employer's act of emailing a worker allegations that she mismanaged COVID-19 protocols, just an hour before a disciplinary meeting, caused her "shock, horror and confusion", a commission has found, ruling the employer is liable for the psychological injuries she developed as a result.
An employer's decision to prevent a worker from attending his favoured worksite was not bullying, but informed by legitimate safety concerns over his behaviour, a commission has found in rejecting his bid for anti-bullying orders.
A worker's failure to reach performance expectations was an important factor in determining the reasonableness of actions taken against her, but her superior's "bad faith" actions potentially made her employer liable for her psychological injury, a tribunal full bench has found.
An employer's common law safety duties to workers do not extend to rigidly abiding by disciplinary and performance management procedures, a court has found in rejecting a manager's bid for damages.
A manager who acted on a workplace bystander empowerment initiative by admonishing a worker for her rude behaviour did not engage in "administrative action", a tribunal has ruled in finding the psychological injury the act caused is compensable.
A worker's superiors' "hostility" towards his raising of safety concerns did not amount to bullying, a commission has found in rejecting his bid for stop-bullying orders requiring his employer to fully investigate his defect reports.
A worker was not bullied, within the meaning of industrial relations laws, when her wellbeing presentation to staff was cancelled and she was forced to recruit an employee without the proper compliance checks, a commission has found in rejecting her bid for stop-bullying orders.
A major employer should have given a worker more time to prepare for a disciplinary meeting and possibly rectify his transgressions, a commission has ruled in finding the purportedly "casual" meeting was unreasonable action that wholly or predominately caused his debilitating psych injury.
An employer's conduct during a nine-month misconduct investigation against a worker subjected her to severe stress and aggravated her long-term chronic bowel disease, rendering her bowel surgery work-related, a tribunal has found.
