BULLIED ON THE JOB
Thousands of B.C. workers have reported bullying and harassment in the workplace under new policies implemented in 2013
It was last call at the rural Lower Mainland pub where Mikala Condon tended bar when a regular snatched her cellphone and slid it up his shorts toward his groin.
“I said, very firmly, ‘Give me back my phone,’ ” said Condon, 25.
“He said, ‘No, come and get it.’ His buddies are laughing, my boss is sitting beside him.”
The customer, who was drunk, refused to return the phone until Condon struck him.
“I was seeing red,” she said. “I was embarrassed. I could not believe what was happening.”
It wasn’t the first time she’d been sexually harassed behind that bar, she said, nor was it the first time in a decade of hospitality work in B.C.
New data provided by WorkSafe B.C. suggest her story isn’t unique.
On Nov. 1, 2013, WorkSafe B.C. implemented policies requiring employers to establish their own bullying and harassment policies while making sure supervisors are trained to understand and follow related procedures.
Through May 31, 2015, WorkSafe B.C. tallied 5,349 inquiries and complaints regarding the new policies, with 303 calls and another 1,165 online questionnaires leading to prevention officers following up at workplaces.
Most calls were from female complainants, at 64 per cent, and most were from the hospitality industry at 14 per cent, followed by health care (13 per cent) and retail (10 per cent.)
Condon quit shortly after the incident but recalls countless times when supervisors and customers went too far: “Calling me sweetheart, making comments about clothing. Someone actually said, ‘You look delicious today.’ ”
Rachel, 22, who did not want her real name printed, said she used to be sexually harassed “all the time” working in B.C. restaurants.
“I’ve had my butt slapped,” she said. “I’ve been called ‘Babe.’ ”
Sophia, 24, who did not want her last name printed, said most harassment she experienced came from “pervy” bosses.
“One of them, he walked in wearing this dorky helmet,” she said.
“I said, ‘Nice helmet, bud,’ and he was like, ‘Nice tits.’ ”
Heather Hettiarachchi, a lawyer with Kent Employment Law, said WorkSafe B.C.’s data represent “only the tip of the iceberg” of incidents of harassment against female hospitality workers.
“The kind of work that they do, I think, exposes them to that kind of behaviour unfortunately — not just from co-workers but from patrons,” she said, adding that women are also frequently the perpetrators.
Highly educated health care workers are more likely to recognize inappropriate behaviour and complain to their union, she said, while prohibitive legal costs can discourage hospitality workers from taking action. “Unfortunately, what happens is a lot of people will simply walk away and try and find another job,” she said.
Hettiarachchi recommends that workers keep good records of what’s happening, speak to the perpetrator or the perpetrator’s superior and immediately report their concerns wherever possible.
Roy Johnson, founder of The Neutral Zone, a consulting firm that aims to correct unprofessional workplace conduct, said about 10 per cent of his business comes from large restaurant chains and hotels, while 60 per cent comes from health care.
Bullying and harassment in health care tends to be inter-professional, he said, between doctors and nurses, but “in the hospitality industry, and in retail, you see much more along the lines of bad client behaviour, bad guest behaviour.”
He said it’s possible hospitality workers are put at a power disadvantage in dealing with public, since the success of their employers is based on the happiness of clients.
Johnson described “three magic ingredients” for successful and enduring change in bullies’ behaviour: finding some measure of insight in the perpetrators, offering motivation for them to change and helping learn to achieve goals without resorting to bullying tactics.
“The overarching challenge ... is that nobody sees themselves as the bully,” Johnson said.
“Whoever’s harassing, their behaviours make perfect sense to them. They usually have very altruistic goals that they will go into great lengths explaining to you.”
Workers looking to report harassment and bullying in the workplace can reach WorkSafeBC through its prevention line at 1-888-621-7233 and at worksafebc.com.