Browsing: Industrial/employment issues | Page 6

Two company managers' needless insistence that a union official clarify the particulars of his WHS entry permit was a "gossamer-thin" justification for delaying his safety inspection, a court has found in a scathing ruling reiterating the practical purpose of permits.

A Medibank trial giving workers "the gift" of time recouped from fewer meetings, more autonomy and saying no to less-value work, has decreased stress levels and significantly reduced sick leave in some workers, according to a senior executive.

A WHS regulator will step up its enforcement activities against workplace psychosocial hazards, like excessive workloads, with more specialist inspectors and better engagement with stakeholders, under two of 46 accepted recommendations from a highly anticipated review.

Different forms of verbal aggression have different effects on workers' mental health, according to a unique study, which found supervisors are common perpetrators of abuse and need special training to help staff achieve psychological detachment from work.

A worker has lost her claim she was forced to resign by workplace bullying and being blocked from working exclusively from home to protect herself, with a commission finding her employer was accommodating and receptive to her concerns.

The powers of elected health and safety representatives and protections against safety discrimination in the offshore sector have been stepped up and aligned with those in WHS laws, in a Bill introduced some six years after a parliamentary inquiry warned the changes were needed to combat a "culture of fear and reprisal".

An employer has failed to prove it both tolerated and encouraged a worker's repeated safety complaints - which were an "ongoing source of frustration to management" - and they weren't the reason it summarily dismissed him after he shoved a colleague.

Workers in the legal profession will reveal whether their employers are complying with their proactive duties to tackle bullying and harassment, under a follow-up equal opportunity review announced in South Australia. Meanwhile, safety professionals have been asked to apply to present on ideas for improving WHS outcomes in Tasmania.

A major study traversing the past four years has revealed that students are the most frequent perpetrators of digital harassment of Australia's university staff, and senior managers in the sector are not doing enough to safeguard workers' psychological health.

A worker has unsuccessfully claimed he was unfairly sacked for raising safety concerns, with a commission hearing a safety regulator investigated and dismissed his concerns, and finding he was sacked for being unable to perform the inherent requirements of his role.