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unfriend facebookA recent decision from the Fair Work Commission has added another action to the list of potentially bullying behaviours.

In this case, there were several incidents in which the employee felt she had been "belittled and humiliated" by her employers. She alleged she had been likened to a child running to the teacher when she had called one of her employers to ask why none of her listed properties were displayed in the business' front window (as she was employed in a real estate agency). On the same occasion, one of her employers had stood in front of the door preventing her from leaving the meeting.

It was after this incident that the employee had found that her employer had 'unfriended' her on Facebook. Nicole Wells, the Deputy President of the Fair Work Commission, believed that "this action by Mrs Bird evinces a lack of emotional maturity and is indicative of unreasonable behaviour, the like of which I have already made findings on". In the end, 9 out of the 18 alleged incidents were found by the Fair Work Commission to constitute bullying in the workplace.

Ignoring the employee, and treating her differently to other employees (i.e. the employer not delivering her printing or photocopying when this was done for others) were also found to be behaviours that constituted bullying.

 

What does this mean for your business?

As this decision by the FWC classifies 'unfriending' as potentially bullying – many businesses may need to rethink their social media policies. These policies should include greater regulation of interaction between employees and supervisors on social media platforms as this can now be taken into account in determining whether someone has been bullied at work.

 

If you are concerned about the effect workplace bullying is having on your business and employees or have a current dispute regarding workplace bullying, contact our Dispute Resolution team on: 

P 02 6215 9100 or E stipe.vuleta@chamberlains.com.au OR sayward.brest@chamberlains.com.au

 

About Chamberlains Law Firm
Chamberlains is a Canberra-based commercial and business law services firm that caters to the legal needs of small and medium sized businesses in Australia. Find out more about Chamberlains and the services they offer by visiting http://www.chamberlains.com.au/