The FWC's new anti-bullying jurisdiction is likely to subject the "largely unregulated" workplace investigations industry to long-overdue scrutiny, and might give rise to questions about whether employees can lawfully refuse employer directions to cooperate, according to Maurice Blackburn principal Josh Bornstein.
The Fair Work Commission has rejected an anti-bullying application from a paid carer, ruling he was not a "worker" under the new laws, while also outlining other arrangements that would fall outside the jurisdiction.
In dismissing corporate director Kate Shea's general protections case against EnergyAustralia, the Federal Court has ruled that employment complaints must be based on genuinely-held grievances and not made for an ulterior purpose if they are to form the basis of a workplace right.
Gender reporting requirements for businesses with more than 100 employees will stay as they are for another year, while new minimum reporting standards will apply to non-government employers with more than 500 employees from October, Employment Minister Eric Abetz has announced.
A Fair Work Commission full bench headed by the tribunal's president will hear submissions next week on whether unions can lodge bullying order applications on behalf of workers.
A test case that established that the Fair Work Commission is able to consider bullying that occurred before its anti-bullying jurisdiction took effect on January 1 has now been thrown out because the employer is not a "trading" corporation.
In its first substantive order under the new bullying jurisdiction, the Fair Work Commission has directed an employee not to have any unaccompanied contact with a co-worker or make comments about their clothes or appearance.
In a significant decision, a Fair Work Commission full bench has agreed to scrap the 90% rate for 20-year-old retail workers, holding they should receive full adult pay after six months with an employer.
