A worker's emotional distress from his newly created role inflaming rather than easing tensions between departments, and becoming increasingly complex, was a significant contributing factor to his high blood pressure and aorta tear, a tribunal has found.
The Federal Government must amend WHS laws to ensure employers have an explicit duty to tackle s-xual harassment and create a new complaints process, the ACTU and women's rights organisations have demanded in a statement criticising the Government's response to S-x Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins' Respect@Work report.
Employment laws will be amended to define workplace s-xual harassment as "serious misconduct" and prevent ongoing harassment through stop-bullying orders, with the Federal Government agreeing wholly or partly to all 55 recommendations of S-x Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins' Respect@Work report.
The "softly, softly" approach to managing injured and very unwell workers helps them achieve their health and social goals and prepares them to tackle vocational issues, and is particularly effective for those with chronic conditions and costly long-tail claims, a specialist says.
The Federal Government has been urged to use its "deciding vote" to add industrial manslaughter provisions and s-xual harassment controls to the national model WHS laws, while Comcare has released a series of guides on preventing workplace s-xual harassment and implementing early intervention programs for injured workers.
After years of "almost farcical" proceedings, a judge has set a date for determining a worker's claim he was relentlessly bullied and tormented at his Canberra workplace, which was the subject of a major WHS probe and scathing findings.
Bullying, s-xual harassment and s-xual assault in parliamentary workplaces will continue to "fester and go unpunished" without WHS amendments and mandatory safety training for MPs and their staff, unionists have claimed in issuing five demands to the Federal Government.
A consulate has been ordered to pay two workers lost wages and will face pecuniary penalties, for refusing to renew their employment contracts after they applied to the Fair Work Commission for stop-bullying orders.
Workplace bullying victims' own actions need to be considered when determining whether there is a risk of ongoing bullying for the purposes of stop-bullying applications, a commission has highlighted in making draft orders for a major employer to transfer an applicant.
> Workplace COVID controls still mandatory, employers reminded; >"Respect" standards promised after SA harassment review; and > Two states launch work safety awards, with COVID-control prize in one.
