When an employee suffers a psychological injury arising from workplace bullying, the onus is on employers to look beyond interpersonal issues and take accountability for other risks present in the workplace, a regulator says.
An employee held at knifepoint in his home for three hours by his manager is entitled to compensation for a psychological injury, despite his employer's argument that the attack wasn't connected to work.
Job demands attract a lot of attention as a psychosocial hazard when they're high, meaning employers are more likely to overlook the risks posed by demands that are too low, a specialist says.
When it comes to managing the psychosocial hazard of job demands, employers must ensure they consider not just the amount of work but also how work is structured, according to a risk management specialist.
There was no reasonable basis for an employee to believe he was being bullied; rather, he sought to "entrench" himself as a victim, the Fair Work Commission has found in refusing to issue stop-bullying orders.
Accusing an employee of misconduct and issuing her a warning, in circumstances which at their highest pointed to an inadvertent breach, was not reasonable administrative action, a tribunal has found.
Despite receiving HR advice about how to handle a redundancy meeting, an employer gave a long-serving manager no prior notice of its decision and no opportunity to bring a support person, among other factors found to be unreasonable.
Hopes that a new employee would "hit the ground running" did not materialise, and prompted numerous workplace issues that ultimately caused her psychological injury, a commission has ruled.
An investigation into an employee's alleged "improper behaviour" did not align with the employer's own respectful workplace policy and was therefore "inadequate, flawed and unfair", a commission has ruled.
