| workplace law
General protections claims brought under the Fair Work Act 2009 – how you can defend these claims? How can you pursue these claims?
Understanding what is a workplace right, what constitutes an adverse action, and how to manage these in your workplace.
What constitutes workplace bullying?
It is important to understand what constitutes bullying, and what does NOT constitute bullying in the workplace. Too often employees mistake performance management, or receiving a direction to perform a task they do not like, as bullying.
One definition of workplace bullying is:
“the repeated less favourable treatment of a person by another or others in the work place which may be considered unreasonable and inappropriate workplace practice.
[Such behaviour…] includes behaviour that intimidates, offends, degrades or humiliates a worker.”
(Quote from Australian Human Rights Commission brochure – “Good Practice, Good Business.”)
The key here is ‘repeated less favourable treatment’.
Bullies often utilise power, skills or position in the workplace, and they target vulnerable people.
Bullying can include the following actions if received on a repeated and unreasonable basis:-
Discrimination, Harassment and Workplace Bullying
No employer, whether you employ many people or only a few, can afford to ignore the legal requirements and responsibilities which the law now imposes on all employers in respect to workplace bullying, discrimination and harassment.
Concerns over sexual harassment in the workplace have soared after the intense publicity of the David Jones sexual harassment case late last year.
Kristy Fraser-Kirk, a former David Jones publicist, sued DJ’s and its former chief executive (Mark McInnes) for sexual harassment and breach of contract, in an unprecedented claim for $37 million in punitive damages. The case was settled before trial for a figure reported to be around $850,000.
There is no doubt that Ms. Fraser-Kirk’s action brought against David Jones has heightened sexual harassment concerns within organisations generally and encouraged scores of other victims to take on their harassers.
The Human Rights Commission has reported in February 2011 that such cases now constitute 1/3 of all complaints under the Sex Discrimination Act – up 50 per cent since 2009.
The Commission has revealed that from July to December last year sexual harassment accounted for more than 30% of all complaints. During the 2009 financial year such cases made up only 20%. If complaints continue at the current level, the Commission will receive more than 300 for the financial year – 100 more than last year
It has made women more aware of sexual harassment laws and their rights.
The case had also put pressure on companies to increase the amount they were willing to pay to settle sexual harassment cases out of court.
What should you do?
The need for an effective harassment policy is now even greater than it was before. The risks are greater too, and it’s critical that your staff acknowledge they know your policy on bullying, discrimination and harassment, and are following it.