A recent Human Rights Commission Report estimated the annual cost of bullying and harassment to the country’s economy at over $1.3 billion and found that 40% of New Zealand workers had reported being bullied at some point in their working lives.
Andrea Twaddle
It’s therefore high time that we set clear expectations about what a healthy workplace looks like and how we achieve it.
With no statutory definition of bullying, it’s been left to the courts to determine what is ‘above’ and ‘below’ the line at work, i.e. ‘what is bullying?’
Earlier definitions of the Employment Relations Authority and Employment Court focused on what a bully intended by their actions and the harm that resulted. However, this view has been overtaken by WorkSafe Guidelines on Bullying, now affirmed by the courts, that define bullying to be “repeated and unreasonable behaviour directed towards a worker or a group of workers that creates a risk to health and safety.” That is, it doesn’t matter whether the unreasonable conduct was intended to cause distress.
Recently released WorkSafe Guidelines to promote mentally healthy work give employers further guidance about the importance of identifying psychosocial hazards and management of these risks. These are sources or causes of harm to a person’s health and wellbeing. Common hazards include work-related stress; bullying and harassment; lack or work/life balance; inadequate support; and low job security.
The guidelines should help workplaces meet their statutory obligations – to take reasonably practicable steps to eliminate, or if not possible, then to minimise risk to workers’ health and safety. The benefits of mentally healthy work include a healthy team, increased productivity, increased morale and workers taking less time off.
Healthy and safe workplaces don’t happen by accident. They’re a result of good design. With the end of year and Christmas period known to be high stress for many, it’s timely to ensure proactive steps are taken now.
These should include:
Reviewing work design – where possible, create a variety of tasks and certainty of hours
Addressing social issues such as one-off unreasonable behaviours, disagreement or incivility, before these escalate
Reviewing the work environment to ensure adequate breaks, equipment is working and that staff are fully trained and resourced to work safely.
It may be ‘the Kiwi way’ to try to push on when things are tough, but workers need to know what to do if they have concerns. This should include:
Internal support and reporting mechanisms, including managing conflicts of interest
Availability of external support services, such as GP, counselling or other community support organisations.
Like most issues, prevention is better than cure. Healthy workplaces come when proactive steps are taken to deliberately create and maintain a culture where conduct is consistent with known expectations. While leaders should role model the expected behaviours, safe and healthy workplaces are a collective responsibility.
What better way to embrace the Christmas spirit by contributing to people getting to their summer break safely and well?
Andrea Twaddle
