p>Harassment and bullying in the workplace
Workplace harassment and bullying is likel
y to affect staff
morale, creativity
and productivity, and create an unhealthy work
place culture. It can be subtle
or overt, sporadic or sustained.
Harassment can be defined as any unwel
come comment, conduct or gesture
that is insulting, intimidating, humilia
ting, malicious, degrading or offensive. It
might be repeated or an isolated incident but
it is so significant that it
adversely affects someone’s performance,
contribution or work environment.
It can include physical, degrading or
threatening behaviour, abuse of power,
isolation, discrimination,
sexual and/or racial
harassment. Harassment is
behaviour that is unwanted by the recipi
ent even if the recipient does not tell
the harasser that the
behaviour is unwanted.
Bullying is ongoing unreasonable behaviour
which is often intended to
humiliate or undermine the recipient but
is not specifically unlawful.
Legislation and liability
According to New Zealand law, employ
ers are obliged to create a safe and
secure working environment for their employees, and take all reasonable
practicable steps to manage hazards
and avoid exposing employees to
unnecessary risk of physical injury or psychological harm.
The Human Rights Act, Section 62, states
that it is unlawful for any person to
be sexually harassed, either
through a request for some so
rt of sexual activity
with an implied or overt threat of det
rimental treatment
, or promise of
preferential treatment; or
through sexual behaviour
that is unwelcome or
offensive to the recipient, and is either
repeated or so significant that the
person experiences some form of
detriment in their employment.
It goes on to explain in Section 63 that
it is also unlawful for anyone to use
any behaviour that expresses hostility agai
nst, or brings into contempt or
ridicules someone on the basis of their race
, colour, national or ethnic origins,
in such a way that is offensive to t
he person, and is either repeated or so
significant that it has a detrim
ental effect on their employment.
Section 66 states that it is unlawfu
l to victimise a person for making a
complaint of discrimination under this
Act, or for making a disclosure under
the Protected Disclosures Act 2000.
An external police investigation ca
nnot take the place of an internal
disciplinary inquiry.
According to the Employment Relati
ons Act 2000, (Section 108) an employee
can take a personal grievance case against
their employer if they directly or
indirectly subject the employee to behavi
our that is unwelcome (whether or
not that is conveyed to the employer or
their representativ
e) and by its nature
or through repetition, has
a detrimental effect on t
hat employee’s employment,
job performance, or job satisfaction.
An employee can also take a personal
www.eeotrust.org.nz
1
grievance case if they are sexually or
racially harassed by another employee,
customer or client, and the employer
has had the chance to investigate a
complaint, but has not taken any practi
cable steps to prevent the behaviour
recurring (Sections 117 & 118). Organi
sations will be held liable if the
harassment takes place during work hours,
on work-related activities or at
work-related social events.
Employees can take a personal grievanc
e within 90 days of the alleged act.
However, if the nature of the ac
t means the Human
Rights Act has been
contravened, the employee can bring a ca
se against the employer for up to 12
months after it occurs.
See our legislation overview
for other related legislation
References:
www.hrc.co.nz
www.top-drawer.co.nz
www.anthealowe.com.au
www.wave.org.nz
www.acas.org.uk
Effects of harassment and bullying
Increased absenteeism due to anxiety, panic attacks, fear,
depression, stress and ill-health.
Unaddressed stress can often lead to errors at work, injury,
fatigue, illness and disease.
Reduced performance and productivity caused by isolation,
breakdown in work relationships, distraction, and low morale.
Unhappy, unmotivated staff.
Increased staff turnover.
Increased management time spent investigating and dealing
with complaints.
Unhealthy workplace cu
lture and ongoing conflicts.
Industrial action.
Damaged reputation.
Expensive litigation procedur
es and negative publicity.
Background: your current climate
Harassment and bullying can be subtle and
difficult to define. Often victims
fear being blamed, ridiculed, disbe
lieved or retaliated against and may be
anxious about losing their jobs, being
demoted or escalating the situation.
There are some direct ways of me
asuring harassment and bullying (the
number of employee complaints, legal
action, feedback from employees’ exit
or climate surveys about their work ex
periences), while other measures are
less direct (turnover rate, individual or team performance, absenteeism
figures).
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