Sexual harassment complaints, and the laws that attempt to curb the behaviours, are not new. Despite regulation, sexual harassment is still occurring in workplaces. Why?
One answer may be that organisations guard against sexual harassment through policy and lecture style training without
In the world of anti-discrimination law awards of money against employers for psychiatric injury or illness caused by sexual harassment by one of their employees have been rare and low, typically in the range of $12,000 to $20,000. Similarly, the anti-bullying jurisdiction of the Fair Work Commission has seen limited orders made to prevent further bullying where claims have been made, and compensation is not available as a remedy for bullying behavior.
But things are changing, especially in the area of sexual harassment where awards of damages for psychiatric illness are increasing. This reflects change in societal attitude towards this type of conduct that has (finally) started to be reflected in judicial pronouncements.
The spectrum of mental harm that can be experienced by victims of sexual harassment or bullying covers depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) any of which can be debilitating for a significant period.Continue Reading Damages in sexual harassment and bullying claims – the stakes are rising
‘Snapchat is about sharing moments and having fun’ reads the tagline of the mega-app that has the fastest-growing social network in the world. But despite its phenomenal popularity, what potential impact might Snapchat have on your workplace?
Continue Reading Snapchat in the workplace: where’s it app?
When it comes to managing bullying in the workplace, the focus tends to be on dealing with the bullying behaviour after it has occurred or at least after the bully has started work. But are there ways to stop bullies from being recruited in the first place?
One place to start is screening during recruitment. There are certain personalities who deliberately inflict harm or lack the ability to understand the harm they are doing to others. These personalities fall within a category that psychologists call the ‘Dark Triad’ which comprises three sub-personalities: Machiavellianism, sub-clinical narcissism and sub-clinical psychopathy.
Continue Reading Screening for psychopaths – managing the front end of workplace bullying
With an increasing number of formal complaints about workplace sexual harassment it’s worthwhile revisiting the definition of unlawful sexual harassment and pointing out 4 common misconceptions about sexual harassment.
Continue Reading Misconceptions about sexual harassment
Since 1 January 2014 the Fair Work Commission (FWC) has administered a new “one stop shop” bullying jurisdiction that can make orders to stop or prevent bullying in the workplace. Previously bullying type conduct was addressed under a patchwork of different laws including the law of negligence, breach of contract and workplace health and safety legislation.
Continue Reading 7 top tips to successfully manage bullying complaints