The Fair Work Commission has dismissed an ANZ employee's application for an anti-bullying order, finding that his dismissal by the bank after he lodged his claim meant that he had no reasonable prospects of success.
In its first substantive ruling on the merits of an application under the new bullying jurisdiction, the Fair Work Commission has fleshed out the concept of "reasonable management action" in rejecting a manager's claim that she had been subjected to repeated unreasonable treatment by two of her subordinates.
The Federal Court has dismissed a stevedoring company's challenge to the interim reinstatement of a MUA delegate, despite acknowledging the company's belief that the orders undermined its authority to manage workplace bullying and harassment.
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.
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.
The Fair Work Commission has ruled that it is not prevented from considering behaviour that occurred before the start of the new bullying jurisdiction on January 1 this year when dealing with applications for orders to stop the conduct.
A Fair Work Commission full bench reserved its decision this morning on whether the tribunal can take account of conduct before the bullying laws began operation on January 1, when making orders under the new regime.
