Bullied at Work? Maybe!

In the recent case of Sharon Bawker & Others v DP World Melbourne Limited and Others, the full bench of the Fair Work Commission has established what it means for a worker to be ‘at work’ when the bullying conduct occurs under the anti-bullying jurisdiction established under the Fair Work Act 2009.

The need to understand and define this term has become increasingly necessary as flexibility arrangements and technology often make it difficult to determine what ‘at work’ actually means.

This case clarified that for anti-bullying purposes under the Fair Work Act 2009, a worker being ‘at work’ is when work is being performed at any time or place and when the worker is engaged in some other authorised activity.   There must be an actual connection between the bullying conduct and when the worker is ‘at work’.

In this case it was determined that ‘at work’ is:

• Performance of work by the worker (and alleged victim) at any time or location not necessarily confined to a physical workplace,
• When the work (and alleged victim) is engaged in other activities that are authorised or permitted by the employer (eg: meal break or accessing social media while performing work)

However, it doesn’t seem to be so clear really and I can think already of scenarios that wouldn’t fall under this definition of ‘at work’ but would make sense to be defined to be bullying at work.   Although as time goes on and more cases are heard, no doubt it will become clearer.

Whilst this case provides further clarification, it doesn’t change the fact that to prevent workplace bullying regardless of where ‘at work’ is, all employees need to be educated and reminded as to what it is, how to handle it and what action can be taken along with developing a strong organisational culture and leadership.

 

Sharon Bowker & Others v DP World Melbourne Limited and Others [2014] FWCFB 9227