Desperate workers in the hands of heartless employers

It is hard to ignore a heart wrenching video of a South African young lady that made rounds on social media recently about how she suffered abuse at the hands of her employer in a kindergarten in Shanghai China, where she works as a teacher.

She painfully recounted the ordeal, holding back tears, with a visible black eye, that during a disagreement with her employer, the Human Resources manager punched her on the face. After the scuffle that seemed to have lasted for eternity, she managed to free herself and ran through the school corridors screaming for help, to no avail even though there were people visible on the scene. When she eventually asked someone to call the Police, the Police were also not very welcoming nor helpful. This is an extreme example of what transpires in places of work across the globe, from domestic settings, corporate boardrooms, in skyscrapers where the world’s economic pulse is, to farms hidden far away from the glare of many. Many employers may not chase you around publicly with clenched fists ready to punch you into your next job, but they certainly do many things that indicate that they do not care less about you and your wellbeing. Workplace abuse is a relatively new phenomenon that affects millions of employee in all types of organizations and occupations. Workplace issues of emotional abuse inflicted on employees by employers, supervisors or managers are seldom addressed, unless you want to burn the hand that feeds you, right? An organization becomes abusive when it permits and tolerates tendencies that totally disregard employee wellness and welfare. There are news reports daily on violence facing society such as child, domestic, or elderly abuse. However, workplace abuse is rarely mentioned and dealt with. More employees become emotionally and even physically ill, as a direct result of the work they do, which calls for some employers to examine the way they do things. The level of workplace stress has been recently intensified by economic downturn, massive layoffs, mergers, and restructuring, and in this kind of environment, many workers are willing to sacrifice their labour rights for survival. In many organizations, it is no longer, ‘a give and take,’ it is a give only, as workers are made to believe that they have been done a favour by being offered jobs, when, in fact they are also providing a service that keeps the business going.

If we could only learn that the workplace influences the level of productivity generated by workers! An organization that does not care about the welfare of its workers will never achieve the desired level of productivity. The effects that these organizations have on their workers are difficult to understand. It is said that in the United States, businesses are losing five to six billion dollars annually in diminishing productivity. And the cost of maintaining the business will rise while workforce productivity will decline. Decreased productivity is not the only problem here, but millions are also lost as result of wrongful terminations, lawsuits, and compensation costs, however, this happens only when workers are monied enough, brave and ready to face their employer head on. Otherwise, many workers believe that bahiri ba bone batla bonwa ke Modimo mmanyana!