Workplace bullying remains an unfortunate reality in Australia.
It is a prevalent and complex issue that can have a profound effect
on a worker's health as well as their professional and personal
life. Sadly, in a number of cases, workplace bullying has pushed
individuals to take their own life.
For employers, the task of combating workplace bullying is made
difficult by the broad range of conduct that may constitute
bullying, as well as the diverse characteristics or sensitivities
of individual workers. This is further complicated by an employers
need to drive business objectives and effectively manage the
performance, behaviour and conduct of their employees.
Although "reasonable performance management" by an
employer may not constitute bullying, what is or is not
"reasonable" is not clearly defined. As a consequence,
the line between reasonable performance management and bullying is
often blurred: a difficult distinction that is further complicated
in
