New changes to workplace bullying legislation have so far showed underwhelming results according to a Fair Work Commissioner with the first substantive order under the new act being made almost three months after the new system came into effect. The changes were made to the Fair Work Act 2009 last year in response to the […]
Workplace harassment can happen in a number of different environments, not just in the office as was upheld by a recent ruling in the NSW district court. In the first case of its kind, NSW teacher Christine Mickle successfully sued a former student for defamation via popular social media platform Twitter. The student was ordered […]
Allegations of misconduct can have a serious effect on employees and your agency’s public image. All employees who work for the Australian Public Service (APS) are required to abide by the APS code of conduct. If it is alleged that an employee has breached the terms of the APS code of conduct the agency they […]
As the sun rose over Sydney this morning, I got the news – WISE is going to Milan! I will be presenting a paper at the 9th International Conference on Workplace Bullying and Harassment in Milan, Italy, on 16 June 2014. Below is the abstract I submitted which has been accepted: WORKPLACE BULLYING OR REASONABLE […]
Keiko Adachi v Qantas Airways Limited 12 Feb 2014. [2014] FWC 518. If you don’t want your investigation failing because you’ve stumbled into the sticky trap of “investigator bias”, take note of these lessons from Qantas in a ruling by the Fair Work Commission early this month. The FWC found in favour of the […]
Video: The anti-bullying amendments to the Fair Work Act, introduced on 1 January 2014, mean that employers can no longer overlook complaints of workplace bullying. It sends a clear message that bullying in the workplace will no longer be tolerated. WISE CEO Harriet Stacey gives examples of recent instances when workplace bullying has been […]
Are you or your employees in the dark about their work arrangements? Maybe it’s time to shed light on this. Formalising flexible working arrangements could help protect both employees and managers when it comes to drawing a line in the sand between bullying and harassment and reasonable management action. A recent case brought against the […]
We are pleased to announce our merger with LKA Group Pty Ltd, a national investigations company. The merger becomes official on 1 January 2014. On that date our combined firm will begin conducting its practice under the same familiar name of WISE Workplace with offices in Sydney, ACT, Melbourne, Brisbane, Hobart and Perth. Merging with […]
There is no doubt that social media is playing an increasing role in our lives. Have you ever been handed a folder of print outs from Facebook and told; “Here you go, I want this person out!”? An increasing number of organisations are developing social media policies as a starting point to control inappropriate […]
Jill McMahon – Tuesday, October 29, 2013 Last week, I looked at how the 1938 divorce case of Briginshaw vs. Briginshaw has significant impact on workplace investigations today. This week, I look at the importance of the balance of probabilities and applying Briginshaw in practice. The balance of probabilities Usually the role of an […]