Employees accuse company of using brainwashing
A GROUP of employees at The Unlimited, a direct marketing insurance company in Hillcrest, west of Durban, have accused their employer of forcing them to participate in workshops alleged to use brainwashing.
New employees were allegedly compelled to attend and it was alleged that the company had threatened to fire those who failed to show up.
They claimed that during these workshops they were not allowed to interact with the outside world or contact their families.
Phones were allegedly confiscated when they arrived and were kept by organisers for the duration of their stay.
Families of the employees were allegedly provided with a phone number to call, but only in an emergency.
The employees were hoping for a speedy intervention as the company has allegedly ignored their grievances and continued to violate their human rights.
The workshops were put on hold due to the Covid-19 lockdown restrictions but were expected to resume from March 16 to 20. A group of employees were scheduled to travel from Durban to Johannesburg by bus.
“They are forcing us to participate in controversial transformational workshops that have nothing to do with workplace skills. It has nothing to do with the workplace but focuses on your upbringing, values, beliefs.
“They use the slogan that they want to ‘break you down to build you up’. Basically, everything you have learnt and known is nonsense and they will teach you the real meaning of life,” said a worker who did not want to be named.
It was alleged that in 1994, when founder of the company Iain Buchan experienced personal problems, he attended workshops at the Centre of Light, founded by the late psychologist Dr Baruch Banai and his son Royee Banai.
Employees said the company believed these sessions made him a stronger and better man and since then, it became compulsory for employees to participate in these workshops which begin daily at 1pm and run until the early hours of the next morning.
“Despite a few glowing testimonials, publicly available reviews on these group awareness workshops have raised alarms of the centre being a cult.
“The workshops are a big secret in the organisation as those that have gone through them are made to sign non-disclosure agreements and are not allowed to speak about the courses as it is a dismissible offence.
“Even the group going on March 16, do not know what will happen, all they are told is to ‘embrace transformation and be open to transformation’ so they can benefit from the process,” said the worker.
“This company has been getting away with this for a long time as most people who are brave enough to question these injustices are silenced through exit pay-outs in exchange for not saying anything bad against the company in public.”
In 2016, two former employees took the company to court after being fired for refusal to participate in these workshops. Another senior ex-employee reached a confidential out-ofcourt settlement with the company.
“We are really hoping for an urgent intervention so that the workshops are cancelled or moved as they already want us to sign indemnity and liability forms,” said another worker.
Belinda Young, chief leadership officer at The Unlimited, said they were aware of questions surrounding their approach to leadership development and the courses that they chose to use as part of it.
“We’re committed to growing our people and challenging how businesses can and should make long-term and sustainable impacts on the world around them. We don’t shy away from why we believe in these programmes.
“From the very beginning, we openly raise this focus with potential joiners and continue these conversations right through the recruitment process to when we agree to contracts. It’s an approach that has delivered significant results that we are exceptionally proud of.”
Young did not respond to the allegations made by the employees.