A safety regulator has urged workplace leaders to learn from the first successful prosecution, under the harmonised WHS laws, of an individual for workplace bullying, and revealed it received more than 1,300 calls on psychological risks and bullying in 2019-20. Another regulator says it is targeting unhygienic toilets in a blitz.
An employer's evidence disputing a worker's claims of bullying and "toxic" conditions fell well short of the evidentiary expectations set by a supreme court chief justice, a tribunal has ruled.
With many employers still grappling with concepts around mental health, a safety regulator has identified 11 factors that affect the mental health of workers, and explained how to minimise the related risks.
A union and three officials unlawfully stopped work at a site in response to complaints of bullying against a supervisor, the Federal Court has found. It found the relevant employer had procedures for dealing with such complaints, and the officials "should have known better".
Two managers engaged in some forms of inappropriate behaviour against a worker but these were "limited and minor in nature" and did not constitute workplace bullying creating risks to health and safety, a commission has found.
An employer's "aggressive" reaction to a worker's public Facebook post, in which he claimed he came into contact with a COVID-19 case at work, was justified and not bullying, the Fair Work Commission has found.
A major employer has been found liable for a worker's psychological disorder, with a commissioner stressing that the tone and demeanour of managers will always be relevant when determining whether their actions were reasonable.
In a case examining the discretionary powers of a relatively new anti-bullying jurisdiction, an employer has failed to block a worker's stop-bullying claim by contending he was medically incapable of returning to work under his supervisor, the alleged bully.
A company has been ordered to pay more than $5.2 million in compensation, damages and penalties - aimed at deterring unlawful actions by CEOs - for sacking a senior employee for making bullying complaints.
