In the August HR Breakfast Club Webinar, Gabrielle Sullivan spoke about the Local Government (State) Award 2020 and the practical provisions regulating workplace bulling for NSW Government.
Gabrielle began by speaking about the impact of bullying in the workplace. Bullying sees reduced morale and productivity, as well as increased absenteeism and workers compensation, discrimination, and unfair dismissal claims. It is a risk to be managed in accordance with work health and safety frameworks in mind.
Gabrielle highlighted several ways that HR managers are able to tackle bullying. Common approaches include following a bullying policy that staff are aware of and trained in so that they are able to act accordingly on instances of disrespectful behaviour.
She then discussed the Local Government (State) Award (2020), where it states how the parties to the Award have committed to eliminating bullying in the workplace, and pursuing legislative change to give the Industrial Relations Commission of NSW the power to prevent workers from being bullied at work. The Fair Work Act includes some core elements applicable at a Commonwealth level, that Gabrielle explored in detail.
Gabrielle concluded by offering some insight into effective approaches to bullying complaints. Key elements include fostering a healthy workplace culture, ensuring staff are trained in internal policy, and ensuring staff are aware that bullying can amount to misconduct in the workplace.
Back to the HR Breakfast Club for NSW Local Government Main menu here.