The PIAA's legal team has won a bullying case in the Fair Work Commission (FWC) on behalf of long term member Anzpac Services over the dismissal of a male employee for bullying a female co-worker.
FWC Senior Deputy President Hamberger rejected the sacked worker's unfair dismissal application against the company after hearing submissions from Charles Watson, GM of the Printing Industries' Workplace Relations and Legal Services.
"His Honour found the employee engaged in ongoing and unacceptable behaviour including yelling at and intimidating a work colleague," said the PIAA in a statement. "These incidents followed a history of warnings for abusive and confrontational behaviour over the course of his employment. The Commission considered that this behaviour, in context of the applicant’s ‘long record of repeated inappropriate behaviour’ was serious enough to constitute a valid reason for the Applicant’s dismissal.
"The company had addressed the employee’s instances of unacceptable behaviour over the years, providing him with training and giving him numerous opportunities to reform his character. However, the incidents that led to the Applicant’s dismissal were ‘just one occasion too many’, and the Commission found the company was ‘well within its rights to dismiss [the Applicant]."
Watson said when the case went to a commission hearing it became a priority for the PIAA's legal team. "You don't want to be left wondering so we spent a lot of late nights preparing mountains of paper work. In the end it was a just result and we're very happy the company has been vindicated."
Watson praised the actions of the woman who came forward.
"She's a strong person and it was a sign of her courage that she followed through and agreed to appear as a witness in the hearing. Hats off to her."
The sacked worker has 21 days to appeal the decision.
Printing Industries is encouraging members to create a workplace culture where employees feel free to report bullying or unacceptable behaviour.
"Employees need to understand the potential consequences of unacceptable behaviour. If incidents are allowed to fester and not dealt with promptly and appropriately, a company can be in all sorts of pain,” said Watson. “The costs to a business of failing to deal with these issues will be in reputation as well as the bottom line, not to mention the negative impact on its workforce."
PIAA members can get a copy of the PIAA's bullying policy from the membership lounge.
Anzpac Services is a packaging company based at Smithfield in Western Sydney and supplies folding cartons to leading brands in markets including fast food, breakfast cereals and confectionery.