A regulator's claim that to prevent double-dipping it is entitled to recover compensation payments from a worker who received a s-x-discrimination settlement, could, if accepted, have a "chilling effect on the bringing of such complaints" and undermine anti-discrimination laws, a full Federal Court has warned.
Australia has moved a step closer to harmonising the right to disconnect from work, with a parliamentary inquiry recommending the move after hearing workers across multiple sectors are being exhausted and injured "to no good purpose".
The attitudes of workplace health and safety representatives towards the "momentous" legislative changes creating new duties for psychosocial risks will be crucial to the successful implementation of the laws, a study has found.
The first duty holder to be charged under Western Australia's Work Health and Safety Act has become the first entity to enter a WHS undertaking in the State, with its $1.47 million worth of enforceable commitments aligning with the recommendations from a parliamentary inquiry into workplace s-xual harassment.
A company director has been convicted and fined for a string of "disturbing" acts of bullying against two apprentices, including at a work Christmas party. A court found his company's safety failings were solely attributable to him.
The efforts, or lack thereof, of employers to comply with their positive duty to proactively prevent s-xual harassment will be actively scrutinised by at least one more regulator from today, with the Australian Human Rights Commission's new powers taking effect.
A major survey of leaders from large businesses and government departments from around the world has found many company officers aren't being sufficiently informed of psychosocial risks to comply with their proactive WHS duties.
A WHS regulator will enforce the utilisation of risk assessments for psychosocial hazards in psychologically dangerous workplaces, under one of 18 recommendations from a parliamentary inquiry into NSW's workers' compensation system.
