Time’s up for workplace harassment

THE Time’s Up movement has no doubt been a major talking point for 2018.

The movement aims to give a voice, support and legal aid to employees suffering from workplace harassment and retaliation. The effect has trickled down from Hollywood’s elite into all workplaces and given workers the courage to have a voice when seeking protection from workplace harassment.

Employees have the right to feel protected when alerting management to workplace harassment. They should never feel be fearful of being discredited for raising harassment issues even if the event occurred many years ago.

The prominence of the Time’s Up Movement has added pressure to organisations through risk of public exposure. The social implications of organisations continuing to brush these issues under the carpet are now harsher than if they rise up to eliminate any harassment within their organisations. This higher risk to a business’s reputation has cast a new light on the issue.

Organisations need to be accountable when dealing with and recognising a problem so prevalent in society. We need to create opportunities in our workplace to balance out our current views and expand on diversification to create equal opportunity.

We need to set clear boundaries within our workplaces with an all-inclusive, zero tolerance policy in place. Company policies around workplace expectations should be readily available to staff from the first day of their employment. This could be achieved by way of inductions and a workplace conduct agreement. Every employee should be able to identify clear steps they need to take when dealing with any harassment that may arise. We need to acknowledge that harassment of any kind should be met with real and serious consequences for the perpetrator, irrespective of their rank or status within the organisation.

Finally we need to invest more in positive workplace culture to create mentally healthy employees. A 2014 PricewaterhouseCoopers study around mental health in workplaces concluded that for every one dollar invested in programs around mental health and positive workplace practices it returned $2.30 in benefits to the company by reducing its employees’ sick days and improving on productivity.

Employees deserve to be treated respectfully in the workplace. Everyone deserves to feel safe and acknowledged. Speaking out against harassment should never make a worker believe that their career will be ended.

WE NEED TO SET CLEAR BOUNDARIES WITHIN OUR WORKPLACES WITH AN ALL-INCLUSIVE, ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY IN PLACE