Victoria leads the way in Stopping Bullying

 Victoria has now created news laws under their old stalking laws that could result in workplace bullies and cyber bullies facing criminal charges and up to 10 years jail. The Victorian amendments, nicknamed “Brodies Law” was prompted after the death of 19 year old Brodie Panlock 5 years ago when she jumped to her death from a building after being severely bullied by co-workers in a Hawthorn café. The new law will now see people who use abusive and/ or offensive words or acts in the presence of others or directed at others (like swearing) with the risk of a criminal charge. Brodie’s co-workers abused her, spat on her, poured beer over her and held her down while she was doused in cooking oil. When she first attempted suicide, she was mocked for failing, and then offered rat poison. They were later convicted along with the cafe owner of a serious of offences under the Occupational Safety and Health Act and fined over $300,000. Today if these same behaviours occur they could result in criminal convictions and time spent in prison. Victoria is sending a message to all Victorians and perhaps to all of Australia that these behaviours will not be tolerated.

Are Fireman in or out in the workplace?

The Fundraising fireman’s calendar has come under scrutiny in recent weeks. Some nurses at Princes Margaret Hospital made a complaint that the Fireman Calendar displayed at work was inappropriate. What do you think? It’s basically a bunch of hunky, bare chested men in fireman outfits, no willy’s are waving so isn’t it okay? Under the law, sexual harassment is unwelcome behaviour or language, of a sexual nature and a reasonable person is or could be humiliated, offended or intimidated. If the behaviour ticks off this definition, then it is considered sexual harassment. The outcomes of the cases that have gone to the courts, in relation to scantily clad women are that the pictures are enough to be sexual harassment. If it applies to photos of women then it should apply equally to photos of men. “But it’s a fundraiser, that should make it ok, right?!” No, it makes it okay to buy it but not necessarily okay to display it in the workplace. While the calendar is at the lower end of behaviour that could be sexual harassment, it is a risk and a wise workplace would advise their staff to keep it at home.

Age Discrimination-Is 36 too old?

 

Adam, a 36 year old specialist IT engineer applied for a job with a recruitment agency and was told, “I didn’t forward your application to the short-list because in the past, this employer has been burned by employing mature applicants”. Adam made a complaint and accepted a $1500 compensation settlement from the recruitment agent.

Do you think people are not getting the job because they are too old? What is too old? Is 60 too old? What about 50? 35?  What happened to “the best person for the job?”

A recent report by National Seniors Australia (2011), “The elephant in the room-Age discrimination in employment”, gives examples of people, including Adam, saying they were not offered a job because they were “too old” and wouldn’t “fit in with the young staff”.

Since when was growing older and “wiser” a bad thing? Some people might think that some jobs have a “use by date” and when you reach a certain age there are some jobs you should just not be doing. Other people may think that discrimination is a fact of life, it happens all the time and so what’s the big deal?!

The big deal is, age discrimination is unlawful and is protected under the law.

Unless an employer can prove that a person’s age is relevant to their ability to carry out the job, then employers or their representatives can expect a complaint from people like Adam for age discrimination and pay compensation for their unlawful behaviour.

HO, HO HO, IT’S CHRISTMAS TIME…

 Christmas carols may be encouraging breaches of occupational safety and health requirements and discrimination laws. Have a look at these ones…

 1.     Jingle Bells
Dashing through the snow 
In a one horse open sleigh 
O’er the fields we go 
Laughing all the way …

A risk assessment must be submitted before an open sleigh is considered safe for members of the public to travel on. The risk assessment must also consider whether it is appropriate to use only one horse for such a venture, particularly if passengers are of larger proportions. Please note, permission must be gained from landowners before entering their fields. To avoid offending those not participating in celebrations, we would request that laughter is moderate only and not loud enough to be considered a noise nuisance. 

 2.      While Shepherds Watched  
While shepherds watched 
Their flocks by night 
All seated on the ground 
The angel of the Lord came down 
And glory shone around .

The Shepherds Union has complained that it breaches Health and Safety regulations to insist that shepherds watch their flocks without appropriate seating arrangements being provided, therefore benches, stools and orthopedic chairs are now available. Shepherds have also requested that, due to the inclement weather conditions at this time of year, they should watch their flocks via CCTV cameras from centrally heated shepherd observation huts. 

Please note, the angel of the lord is reminded that before shining his / her glory all around he / she must ascertain that all shepherds have been issued with glasses capable of filtering out the harmful effects of UVA, UVB and Glory. 

 3.     Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer  
Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer 
had a very shiny nose. 
And if you ever saw him, 
you would even say it glows.

You are advised that under the Equal Opportunity Act, it is inappropriate for persons to make comment with regard to the ruddiness of any part of Mr. R. Reindeer. Further to this, exclusion of Mr R Reindeer from the Reindeer Games will be considered discriminatory and disciplinary action will be taken against those found guilty of this offence. A full investigation will be implemented and sanctions – including suspension on full pay – will be considered whilst this investigation takes place. 

On a more serious note, Christmas can bring out a lot of Christmas cheer, some of it alcohol induced. To ensure your workplace provides a safe enjoyable Christmas function for all keep these things in mind-

1. be considerate of diversity and cross-cultural needs of employees when planning events;
2. ensure the provision of soft drinks, iced water, light alcoholic drinks and adequate food;
3. ensure under age employees do not consume alcohol;
4. remind employees of appropriate behavior and the consequences of not acting appropriately including encouraging employees to come forward if something potentially wrong happened to them or another
5. encourage the use of taxis, public transport and non-drinking skippers;
6. issue reminders about the dangers of drink driving and encouraging guests to leave their cars at home if they intend to drink;
7. ask intoxicated employees to stop drinking and making safe transport arrangements to ensure they do not drive home;
8. ensure finishing times for functions are reasonable;
9. ensure that there is no automatic topping up of drinks; and
10. if gifts are to be exchanged at your Christmas function, set rules for the types of gifts to be exchanged to avoid offending anyone.

With these suggestions in mind we trust your work place will have a fun and safe Christmas function.

Don’t Date Your Staff-ask Hewlett Packard Boss

Don’t date your staff, especially if you are the boss. Hewlett Packard ex-boss Mark Hurd found this out the hard way after his affiar went sour with a marketing contractor. Companies often have internal staff policies that prohibit or discourage employees from dating especially where there is a power imbalance. The reasons are multiple but one of them is evident in Mark Hurd’s story. After he ended the affair she then cried “sexual harassment!” the company investigated and found he was  not guilty of sexual harassment but instead discovered he had inappropriately spent company money on her and then then tried to cover it up. I have no sympathy for Mark. He knew the rules, broke them and then tried to cover it up. It is unfortunate that he threw his career away over money and sex when he was paid more than $26 million in salary, stocks and bonuses in 2009-how much is enough Mark?

Sexual Harassment and David Jones

Everyone is writing about David Jones and Mark KcInnes. Did they do it, didn’t they? And then everyone is writing about Kristy Fraser-Kirk-some love her, hailing her as a champion for women and the fight against sexual harassment. Others hate her and call her a money grabbing, attention seeking wanna-be for claiming $37 million in damages and alot of media attention. But hardly anyone is saying anything about whether this reflects the current state of affairs in most organisations in Australia. And in addition if you are one of those workplaces that could end up looking like David Jones and have just been ‘lucky’ to avoid a complaint so far then wouldn’t you want to know what to do to NOT end up like them?…I would!

So if you want to know what to do then read on-

1. Make sure your policies on discrimination, harassment and bullying are accurate, up to date and easy to understand and access

2. Ensure all of your staff-including casual employees are regularly trained in relation to their rights and responsibilities in relation to discrimination, harassment and bullying

3. Have a clear, detailed step by step grievance policy that outlines exactly how and who should conduct an investigation

4. Make sure all of your managers and supervisors are trained on how to manage a grievance

5. Select and train core people in your organisation to act as grievance officers

6. Provide the option of an external investigator for complaints

7. Provide the option of an external counseling service for support

Are we sisters or are we sinners in the workplace?

Being a woman and working in a corporate world has its challenges but is one of them the other woman in your office? We like to think that us ” sisters” stick together in the still largely male dominated corporate world but is that true?

The weekend Australian recently (Jan31-Feb 1 2009) wrote about bullying amongst women (“The Sister Act”). The article suggested that it was alive and well in the female corporate world and it was often subtle and manipulative: ostracism, exclusion, spreading rumours and playing favourites.  It is so subtle and so devastating in its consequences that the women bullied can end up thinking that something is wrong with them and not the person who is bullying them.

But where did it start? Is it an adult phenonomen that occurs once we enter the corporate world? Is it simply  survival of the fittest in the work place?

A few years ago I had an early mid life crisis and left law to become a kindy teacher…yes you read correctly! I lasted as a kindy teacher for only 2 years, deciding that in fact law was easier!! But in those 2 years I witnessed disturbing behaviour amongst a group of middle class 4 year old girls. It was clear that one of the girls in my class, who I will call Jo, wanted to be a part of a group of 3 girls.  Jo was sweet, quiet and shy …a bit of a dreamer. The other girls didn’t want Jo to be a part of their group and so they would ignore her, walk away from her, sometimes play with her and then later say, “you’re not our friend anymore” . They teased her for being a dreamer and flaunted their friendships with each other, in front of her.

Sounds like bullying to me. I can imagine this behaviour repeating itself in these women’s lives in 20 years time, perhaps in a corporate setting when the stakes are higher than just friendship.

for more information on bullying and other types of illegal behaviour in the workplace, you can go to www.franca.com.au