Noeline Virtu suffered an injury to her right wrist on 23 July 2014 when she tripped in a pothole in a dark laneway on her way to work with Greenacres Disability Services. Ms Virtu says that she suffered the injury because she was required to walk down the laneway to catch a bus from her home at Koonawarra to meet the “Greenacres bus” at Unanderra which would take her to work. Greenacres disputes Ms Virtu’s claim because she was injured whilst on a journey to work and there was no “real and substantial connection” between her employment and the injury in accordance with s10(3A) of the Workers Compensation Act 1987 (the 1987 Act). Ms Virtu claims weekly payments of compensation of $41.30 per week from 23 July 2014 to 5 November 2014 and from 12 January 2015 to 6 March 2015 and medical expenses, and that is pretty much what the NSW Worker Compensation Commission awarded her.
December 15, 2016
Anglicare is to defend a s.394 (Application for unfair dismissal remedy) launched by an ex-staffer (Ware).
December 15, 2016
A regional health provider must fix a tense workplace environment in which staff have been under-reporting internal bullying, an independent report has found. Otway Health this week released findings from a review into its workplace culture, with allegations that ongoing harassment from senior management had resulted in at least 15 staff leaving across a 10-month period. The report outlines that Otway Health, which manages the Apollo Bay hospital, “must change” some management practices and step in to curb “inappropriate” behaviour of certain staff, with internal reporting system Riskman appearing “under used” and evidence pointing to a “definite under-reporting of bullying”. “A small number of staff reported that they no longer used the Riskman system to report issues, because they perceived that management only used the information for punitive reasons,” CWH Mediation and Workplace Relations consultant Chris Hicks writes. “This theme was particularly concerning.” Annual staff feedback surveys and Riskman data between 2011 and 2016 shows that, while at least 20 per cent of staff each year were reported to have experienced bullying, only six Riskman reports of bullying were entered in total across the five-year period. The report noted that while there was “certainly room for improvement” in many areas, there was not a widespread culture of bullying and that most staff “took pride in their work”. Problems identified included a “perceived lack of consultation” by management over extensive organisational changes; the intended meaning of emails often getting “lost” because of their “emotive tone”; and a “degree of disillusionment” towards the organisation’s values. It also suggested a small number of staff were only appointed to their roles because “there were no other available options”, noting that the “wrong appointment” can do more damage as opposed to taking longer to recruit.
December 15, 2016
TriCare Limited has been served with papers (s.394 – Application for unfair dismissal remedy) by ex-staff member Moody. Commissioner Simpson in the Fair Work Commission Central Plaza Two level 14 66 Eagle Street Brisbane will hear the dispute today at 11am.
December 15, 2016
Jaime Taouk-Saade has failed in her unfair dismissal claim against the Drug and Alcohol Multicultural Education Centre (DAMEC).
December 15, 2016
The aunt of a 10 year old boy found dead at home in Mackenzie, south east of Brisbane, last year has been denied bail. Jodie Powell, 43, sat in the dock of the Brisbane Magistrates Court with her back to the public gallery this afternoon while her lawyer, Brittany White, applied for bail on her behalf. She has been charged with manslaughter, child cruelty and interfering with a corpse.
December 15, 2016
An application for approval of the Healthe Care Burnie Pty Ltd Nurses’ Enterprise Agreement 2016 (s.185 – Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement) will be reviewed by Commissioner Roe in the Fair Work Commission 11 Exhibition Street Melbourne at 4pm.
December 15, 2016
Training programs for Centrelink, Medicare and child support staff have become a priority after the Department of Human Services identified a need for more “robust” options to help its employees deal with aggressive customers. Tender documents show the Department is searching for a new provider of “customer aggression training services” to help thousands of customer service staff de-escalate potential incidents. Employees require “more robust, specific and experiential” options to avoid aggressive situations and give them skills to managing challenging and “risky customer aggression”, the documents said. As part of the training plan, the Department hopes all customer service staff, team leaders and managers will be given strategies to deal with online abuse, physical violence threats and racial abuse. The Department said customer aggression can be triggered by dissatisfaction with services, personal circumstances and decisions made by DHS. While staff have received similar training in the past, dealing with aggressive customers has been listed as a priority in the latest framework review released last year.
