No matter what type of job you have, everyone has the right to feel safe at work.
That includes being safe from feeling bullied at work.
The Fair Work Commission has powers to prevent bullying at work from continuing.
The Fair Work Act gives the Commission power to do a range of things to restore productive
workplace relationships, including making orders to prevent further bullying at work.
The Act says that bullying occurs when two criteria are met.
First, a person (or group of people) repeatedly behaves unreasonably towards a worker (or
group of workers) at work.
And, second, that the behaviour creates an ongoing risk to health and safety.
That includes both physical and mental health and safety.
This means that the unreasonable behaviour must occur repeatedly.
That is, more than just once.
The behaviour must create a risk to health or safety.
And that the behaviour must occur at work.
Importantly, being at work can include any place where the worker goes while working
including work related activities which their employer or principal has authorised or permitted.
The Commission is a tribunal, which operates in a similar way to a court by hearing and
determining applications that are made by workers.
It does so in an open and fair manner but does not conduct workplace investigations
of allegations of bullying in the same manner as a work health and safety agency might do.
The Commission will deal with bullying matters in a number of ways including: by mediation
or conducting conferences, including determinative conferences, or hearings.
Sometimes a Member may hold a preliminary conference, which can help the Commission
to better understand the issues involved.
Mediation is a confidential and voluntary process that is quite informal.
With the help of a Commission mediator the parties can sometimes resolve the issues themselves.
A conference is more formal than mediation, but less formal than a hearing and is held
in private.
Sometimes a Commission Member might convene a conference to help the parties work out
an agreed outcome.
This is called a conciliation.
The Commission may also convene a Determinative Conference, where evidence and arguments are
put to the Commission and a decision is made about the application.
In both types of conference some informal discussions can still occur around the table.
Hearings are a much more formal proceeding where evidence and submissions follow a more
structured process.
The Commission then makes a decision about the application.
This decision will be published on the Fair Work Commission's website.
After a determinative conference or hearing, the Commission can make orders to prevent
the bullying from continuing if it is satisfied that bullying has occurred at work and there
is an ongoing risk that it will continue.
Orders must be followed, or substantial penalties can apply.
An order to stop bullying cannot include a financial penalty or any kind of financial
compensation.
Examples of orders to stop bullying could include requiring people to stop a behaviour,
requiring an employer to establish proper standards of behaviour in the workplace, ordering
that work arrangements be changed, such as the parties involved working on different
shifts or extra training be provided by the employer.
The Commission's focus when it makes an order is always on preventing further bullying from
occurring and maintaining the working relationship.
However, most bullying matters are resolved without orders being required.
Matters can be resolved at any stage of proceedings.
Sometimes people find that the Commission's help allows them to work through their issues
to resolve the matter in their own workplace.
Other videos in this tour explain what workplace bullying is, how to deal with it and how to
apply to the Fair Work Commission for an order to be issued.
You can also watch videos about what happens after an application is made, how to respond
to an application and how bullying matters are resolved in conferences and hearings.
Just follow the links from the page you are on now.