What to do if you're being bullied at work

What counts as bullying (and what doesn't)

Under the Fair Work Act, workplace bullying is when a person or group repeatedly behaves unreasonably towards you and that behaviour creates a risk to your health and safety. It usually has to be repeated, so one nasty comment often will not meet the legal definition, though it can still be worth raising.

Reasonable management action done in a reasonable way is not bullying. Getting pulled up for being late, copping fair feedback on your work, or being set proper performance expectations is just the job. The line is whether the behaviour is unreasonable and whether it is putting your health and safety at risk.

So-called initiations and hazing are not a grey area. Safe Work Australia treats initiation and hazing as a form of workplace violence and aggression, and WorkSafe regulators have prosecuted trade employers over apprentices being assaulted, humiliated and injured in "pranks". If you have been physically or sexually assaulted, that is a criminal matter: report it to the police, not just a workplace body.

• •Can count as bullying: constant humiliation in front of the crew, impossible deadlines set up to make you fail, being deliberately frozen out, physical intimidation, demeaning tasks handed out as punishment.
• •Hazing examples that led to real prosecutions: dangerous pranks with tools, being locked in a ute toolbox, taped to equipment, daily physical abuse of first-years.
• •Sexual harassment and discrimination (age, sex, race, disability and so on) are covered by separate laws but the same first steps apply.

The practical breakdown: your first moves

Start a record straight away. Dates, times, exactly what was said or done, who saw it. Keep it on your own phone, not a work device. This record is what turns "he said, she said" into a case someone can act on.

Then work out who your legal employer actually is, because it changes your whole path. If you signed on through a group training organisation (GTO), the GTO is your legal employer, not the builder or sparkie whose site you are on. That host business is just where you are placed.

• •Directly employed: if it feels safe, tell the person to stop, then raise it with your boss or supervisor in writing so there is a record you reported it.
• •With a GTO: call your field officer first. GTOs must monitor and support you under the National Standards for Group Training Organisations, and they can mediate with the host or move you to a different host employer while your apprenticeship keeps running uninterrupted.
• •If the GTO itself will not act, escalate the same way a directly employed apprentice would: state training authority, Fair Work Ombudsman, or your union.
• •Either way, tell someone you trust early: a parent, a mate, your TAFE teacher, another tradie. Do not carry it alone.
• •If you are a union member, the union can raise it for you or sit in on any meeting.

Speaking up is protected: you cannot lawfully be sacked for it

The number one fear that stops apprentices reporting is getting the sack or having the training contract torn up for complaining. Know this: making a complaint about your employment is a protected workplace right under the Fair Work Act general protections. Sacking you, cutting your hours or otherwise punishing you because you complained is unlawful adverse action.

If it happens, the onus flips: your employer has to prove the dismissal was not because of your complaint, rather than you having to prove it was. But there is a strict deadline. A general protections dismissal application (Form F8) must be lodged with the Fair Work Commission within 21 days of your dismissal taking effect. Extensions are only granted in exceptional circumstances, so do not sit on it.

Your training contract: transfer, don't just quit

Your apprenticeship runs on a registered training contract, and after probation your employer cannot cancel it on their own. Cancellation needs your agreement or a formal process through your state or territory training authority. Those same authorities run free dispute and mediation services, and they can transfer your training contract to a new employer so you keep every bit of progress, time served and competencies signed off.

That means walking away from a bad boss does not mean starting your trade again from scratch. Talk to your state authority before you resign in the heat of the moment.

• •NSW: Training Services NSW. A Training Adviser can visit the workplace and mediate; unresolved disputes go to the Commissioner for Vocational Training, who can order outcomes including transfer.
• •Victoria: the VRQA regulates training contracts, investigates disputes and threatened dismissals, and Apprenticeship Support Officers back first-year apprentices. For bullying and safety itself the VRQA points you to WorkSafe Victoria.
• •Queensland: call Apprenticeships Info on 1800 210 210 for mediation on training contract problems, and the independent Queensland Training Ombudsman (1800 773 048) if you are getting nowhere.
• •WA: the Apprenticeship Office (13 19 54) resolves training contract disputes and runs a free Out of Contract Register that matches out-of-contract apprentices with new employers.

Resi vs commercial vs industrial: who you actually turn to

The standard advice of "check the workplace policy and talk to HR" assumes a workplace that has those things. Most residential trade crews do not, so your realistic first port of call changes with the setting.

• •Residential (small crew, two to five people): there is usually no HR, no policy, and the bully is often the owner. Skip the internal steps and go straight to external help: your state training authority, your Apprentice Connect provider, or the Fair Work Ombudsman. Nobody expects you to lodge a grievance with the bloke doing the bullying.
• •Commercial (bigger builders, often union sites): use the structure that exists. The site health and safety representative (HSR) can raise bullying as a safety hazard, union delegates deal with this constantly, and union officials with entry permits can come onto site over suspected safety breaches, which bullying is.
• •Industrial and larger companies: there will usually be a formal grievance policy, an HR contact and often a free Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Follow the policy, keep everything in writing, and you still have every external avenue if the internal one fails.
• •GTO placements in any setting: your field officer is the shortcut through all of it, and host rotation is a real option.

Who can order the bullying to stop

If internal routes fail or are not an option, these are the bodies with actual teeth. Which one fits depends on what is happening and who employs you.

• •Fair Work Commission stop bullying order: the FWC can order the bullying to stop while you are still in the job. Two catches: you cannot apply once you have left, and the order does not come with compensation. It is about fixing the situation, not paying you out.
• •The WA small business trap: the FWC's anti-bullying jurisdiction only covers constitutionally covered businesses. If your boss in WA is a sole trader or partnership (which a huge share of small trade employers are), you apply to the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission instead. Public sector and local government workers in WA also go to the WAIRC.
• •Your state WHS regulator (SafeWork NSW, WorkSafe Victoria, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, WorkSafe WA and so on): bullying is a health and safety hazard, and regulators can investigate and prosecute. This route works even after you have left the job.
• •Police: for any physical assault, sexual assault or serious threats. Criminal behaviour does not stop being criminal because it happened on a worksite.
• •Australian Human Rights Commission: if the bullying involves discrimination or harassment based on sex, race, age or disability.
• •Apprentice Connect Australia Provider (1800 020 108) and the Fair Work Ombudsman Infoline (13 13 94): free advice on where your situation fits.

When to stop and ask for help

Bullying wears you down. If it is wrecking your sleep, your mood, or you are dreading every morning, that is the signal to get support now, not after you have toughed it out for another six months.

If the bullying has caused a physical or psychological injury, you may also be able to lodge a workers compensation claim through your state scheme. See your doctor, get it documented, and ask about a claim. Psychological injury from bullying is a recognised category.

• •MATES in Construction: 24/7 helpline on 1300 642 111, run by people who know the industry. Construction has some of the highest suicide rates of any Australian industry and MATES runs programs aimed squarely at apprentices.
• •Lifeline: 13 11 14, any time, any reason.
• •Your GP: for your health, for documentation, and as the starting point for any workers comp claim.
• •EAP: larger employers and most GTOs offer free confidential counselling. Small resi outfits usually do not, which is exactly what the services above are for.
• •Union young workers services (such as the Young Workers Centre in Victoria) give free advice to young workers on bullying and workplace rights.

Common mistakes

One more thing: bullying and dodgy pay often travel together. Your correct rate depends on your award or enterprise agreement, your year of apprenticeship, whether you are an adult or junior apprentice, and competency-based progression, so never rely on what anyone tells you verbally. Run your numbers through the Fair Work Ombudsman's Pay and Conditions Tool. This page is general information, not legal advice; for anything serious get advice specific to your situation from the bodies above, a union or a community legal centre.

• •Not writing anything down until months later when the details are fuzzy.
• •Quitting on the spot instead of asking the state training authority about a transfer, and losing nothing but the bad boss.
• •Missing the 21-day Fair Work Commission deadline after a dismissal because you did not know it existed.
• •Complaining to the host employer's office when your legal employer is actually the GTO.
• •Assuming "initiations" are normal and copping assault that should have gone to the police.
• •Waiting until you have left the job to seek a stop bullying order, when the FWC can only act while you are still employed there.
• •Not knowing your Apprentice Connect provider exists. It is free, government-funded support built for exactly these problems.