Bullying is defined as repeated instances of unacceptable behaviour towards you by another worker in the workplace which is likely to be a danger to your health. This means that if the repeated adverse conduct is causing medical problems such as stress or depression then it will be within the jurisdiction of the Fair Work Commission.

In this case.

Naomi’s sales manager made rude remarks to her that Naomi felt were designed to embarrass her. He asked her personal questions and teased her when she looked uncomfortable.

Her manager was careful not to act in this way in front of other people that outranked him, and he rarely intimidated her when others were around. The company had no formal procedure in place for managing this type of complaint, so Naomi sought expert advice.

If you have been dismissed for redundancy and you believe that it is not a genuine redundancy, you may have grounds for unfair dismissal.

In most circumstances, when an employee’s job is made redundant they are entitled to receive redundancy pay.

In this case.

Anya is a FIFO worker in the catering industry.

When she was made redundant, she was not paid any redundancy as the dismissal was due to the ‘ordinary turnover of labour’.

When her case was reviewed, it was identified that the employer had failed to attempt to re-deploy her to another available position for which she was well qualified to do. This meant that it was not a case of a genuine redundancy and amends were made.

Many industrial agreements oblige the employer to cover their workers for income protection, sometimes called salary continuance. There are also provisions in statutory superannuation policies for income protection in cases of injury, and many workers unable to work often miss out on this benefit.

In this case.

Aaron was injured in a weekend fishing accident and was unable to continue his role as a forklift operator in a brick yard, so was told he was no longer needed.

As the incident happened outside work hours, he assumed it was fair enough. All the same, he was under pressure to pay his mortgage, so asked an expert to review his situation.

An assessment of the matter revealed he was covered by an income protection policy. Had he not sought advice, he would have missed out on this benefit.

If you have a feeling something is not quite right, it often isn’t.

It pays to ask a specialist to review your Employment Agreement, challenge or set aside unfair contracts, review your working conditions to ensure you are being treated correctly, etc.

In this case.

Leah is a barista. She was underpaid 47 cents per hour because her employer had incorrectly classified her. The error lead to underpayments of Leah’s ordinary hourly rate, as well as her weekend and public holiday penalty rates over several months.

After being informed through an intervention by the Fair Work Ombudsman, the café repaid her, as well as remedied the underpayment of 5 other café workers.

Specialty Areas –Seacare and Comcare

Working on ships and fixed platforms in Australian waters is a unique workplace environment. Workclaims Australia has extensive experience in representing workers from the Australian maritime industry.

The rights and entitlements of a seafarer injured in the course of their employment is governed by the Seafarers Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1992. We specialise in Seacare cases in the Australian Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

The Seacare scheme is a national system of occupational health and safety, workers compensation and rehabilitation arrangements. The scheme is overseen by the Seacare Authority. It is compulsory for the shipping companies to have insurance, but the sheer size of these companies means seafarers are up against some tough international insurers, insurance brokers and top law firms. There is no need to attempt to face this proposition alone when expert help is available.

The rights and entitlements for workers injured while working for a Commonwealth employer or a national employer is administered by Comcare and disputes over these claims are processed in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

Any seafarer or Comcare covered worker with a claim – disputed or otherwise – should contact Workclaims Australia’s on 08 9301 0850.