Browsing: Discrimination | Page 2

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 employer has been cleared of unlawfully discriminating against an impaired worker by rejecting her medical clearances to return to work after she threatened to fight and kick her co-workers.

• Employer fined $551k over rock fall and hazardous rescue;
  
• SafeWork discusses Qantas case, targets high-risk sector; and
  
• New ASEA chief to have broader role.

A court has rejected a worker's claim that her employer unlawfully threatened to lodge a workers' compensation claim, against her will, after she raised safety concerns affecting her mental health.

The Federal Government has introduced the "final legislative reform" driven by recommendations from the landmark Respect@Work report, with a Bill removing a deterrent to workers bringing s-xual harassment claims.

Qantas Ground Services Pty Ltd has been found guilty of engaging in unlawful discriminatory conduct against an elected health and safety representative during the emergence of COVID-19, with a judge ruling that consultation failings on the HSR's part did not invalidate his cease-work directions or help Qantas's defence.

A leading legal expert on technology and the workplace has warned of the WHS risks and implications of using "bossware" to track workers' productivity, including that it can trigger cease-work orders under safety laws.

Court Services Victoria (CSV) has been convicted and ordered to pay nearly $400,000 in penalties, in relation to a toxic workplace culture that contributed to the suicide death of a lawyer and to other workers taking stress leave.

SafeWork NSW has outlined a range of workplace factors that increase the risk of s-xual harassment, and explained what businesses can do to prevent it, in its inaugural four-year Respect at Work Strategy.

A worker suffered psychological injuries from bored colleagues targeting her to "pass the time", according to a judgment that also condemns a major employer for traumatising the vulnerable worker in a liability "witch hunt".