Directors set tone on harassment
Institute of Directors chief executive Kirsten Patterson says boards of directors have a major role in preventing sexual harassment in the workplace.
She said only 40 per cent of boards received comprehensive reporting on ethical matters and actions taken to address them.
Directors set the tone when it came to values, respect and conduct, she said, so the institute has published a guide for them as instances of sexual harassment dominate news headlines.
Harassment was often as much about power imbalance as gender, Patterson said, and boards needed to ask if their standards were being communicated throughout the business.
The guide reminded directors that they were accountable and needed to look at how they addressed misconduct.
It required a zero tolerance culture where employees felt they could raise matters and something would be done.
Just 19 per cent of directors in publicly listed companies are women, and the average age of directors is about 63 for men and 57 for women.
‘‘Diversity on boards is a bit slower than we’d like but it is happening,’’ Patterson said.
The first female president of the institute, Liz Coutts, was elected in June last year.
The guide said directors should address unwanted comments or physical contact, persistent and unwelcome social invitations, unprofessional conversations and behaviours, smutty jokes, and inappropriate language.
It said boards should hold management to account by requiring regular reports of complaints, investigations and outcomes.
Sexual harassment is covered by the Employment Relations Act and the Human Rights Act, with 90 days and 12 months as the respective timeframes within which a grievance can be raised.