A senior member of the Fair Work Commission has told employers they need strong workplace conduct policies and grievance procedures and should select line managers with good interpersonal skills, to help them prevent bullying claims.
The Fair Work Commission received just 151 applications for orders to stop bullying in the jurisdiction's first three months of operation, with the majority from employees of large organisations alleging unreasonable behaviour by their managers, according to new tribunal statistics.
The FWC is expecting a "significant number" of bullying applications and inquiries next year and has released a model for dealing with them and a draft benchbook, as well as announcing Commissioner Peter Hampton's appointment as the head of its anti-bullying panel.
With Australia's new federal bullying regime set to take effect next year, the FWC has turned to the UK's national workplace tribunal for its experiences in dealing with bullying and harassment complaints.
Australia's national science agency, the CSIRO, has received a mixed report card from an independent investigation into allegations of workplace bullying, which found that while the organisation's work culture wasn't "toxic", its policies had encouraged a "blame the victim" approach.
High Court to hand down Mammoet ruling on Wednesday; Port Waratah workers rally; Xenophon calls on Qantas to let staff know future; and Unions NSW launches new anti-bullying charter.
The ALP government and the Greens have "failed" their IR policy exam, while the Coalition has lifted its game since the 2010 election, according to an AMMA scorecard released this morning.
