See Fair Work Act s.789FF
The Fair Work Commission can make any order it considers appropriate (other than an order requiring a financial payment) to prevent a worker from being bullied at work by an individual or group of individuals.
Before an order can be made, a worker must have made an application for an order to stop bullying and the Commission must be satisfied that:
- the worker has been bullied at work by an individual or group of individuals, and
- there is a risk that the worker will continue to be bullied at work by the individual or group.[1]
Where a finding of bullying conduct is made and there is some future risk, preventative orders would be expected to follow. Such orders would, in appropriate cases, establish the appropriate basis for future mutually safe and constructive relationships.[2]
An order to stop bullying is directed at preventing the worker being bullied at work. The Commission is specifically prohibited from making an order requiring the payment of a pecuniary amount, so it cannot make an order requiring a respondent to pay an amount of compensation to an applicant. The anti-bullying laws are not directed at punishing past bullying behaviour or compensating the victims of such behaviour. It is directed at stopping future bullying behaviour.[3]