The increase in remote and hybrid working has created a new dimension for employers when it comes to managing workplace bullying. Traditionally, most workplace communications would have taken place in a physical workplace where managers and employees would communicate in-person. Most employees working remotely and from home now communicate predominantly via emails, messages and video calls. This creates an additional complexity for employers who now have to be aware of, and manage, workplace cyberbullying.

In a recent case, the Fair Work Commission (the “FWC”) considered whether allegations of cyberbullying made by an employee against his manager constituted workplace bullying or whether they were reasonable management actions.

Background

The employee had been employed since 2010 in the Bendigo office (Victoria) as an IT Support Agent, while his manager was based in Bowral (NSW). As a result, most of their communications took place online. From around February 2023, the employee began to feel stressed and pressured by his manager.

The employee made several complaints, including that his manager was micromanaging him, questioning his performance and communicating in a manner which came across as “difficult” and “dismissive”. His other complaints related to the withholding of a pay increase, not awarding a bonus and exclusion from a team event.

The employee’s claims were investigated by the employer and found to be without substance. However, the employer made several recommendations in an attempt to resolve the issues raised, including the suggestion of more one-to-one meetings between the manager and employee. The employee then went on sick leave and subsequently made an application to the FWC for a stop bullying order.

Was management micromanagement?

The employee claimed that online communications (mostly text chats) with his manager were micromanagement and constituted workplace bullying. The employee specifically felt his manager was “questioning everything and questioning what he was doing as if he was doing nothing”. The employee alleged his manager questioned the amount of work he was doing, the length of time it took him to answer calls, client wait times, the breaks he was taking and his reasons for working from home (when he chose to do so).

The employee raised the issues with his manager but found his reply to be dismissive. Despite a later one-to-one meeting by telephone the employee felt he was being bullied by his manager.

The online remote working arrangement clearly limited the communications between the manager and employee more than a traditional workplace. However, the FWC found that the manager was concerned about the employee’s performance and that the employee seemed to be evading enquiries. The manager’s communication was “frequent and interrogative” but the FWC found that it did not rise to the level of unreasonable behaviour and was not workplace bullying.

The FWC also found that the methods of online communication added to the employee’s sense of bullying since:

• messages were often brief and open to being “misinterpreted as curt or abrupt”;
• the manner of communication, particularly via text only, led to issues as tone and nuance are often lost in text; and
• having only two one-to-one meetings in a seven month period was insufficient given the existing issues.

The FWC noted that even though this was not bullying, it was still not ideal and the manager should have considered how the lack of verbal or face-to-face communication may have led to a misunderstanding.

Takeaways for employers

The FWC found the employee had not been bullied, but rather the manager was making enquiries of the employee about his work performance. The enquires constituted management action which was both reasonable and carried out in a reasonable manner.

However, it is important that employers:

• clearly communicate with employees the context of issues that are being raised, particularly where the communication is taking place online;
• have an awareness that online communications, particularly text only communications, have limitations and can lead to misunderstandings;
• provide support and training to managers to effectively manage remote employees; and
• take steps to promote effective working relationships, particularly where there is limited in-person contact.