Take care at workplace functions.
People feel that when they go to work they are somehow immune from the unlawful behaviours of others that might be experienced in the broader community, sadly work is a micro-co sum of the community and on occasion people do treat others badly.
These are real cases that KWS has been involved with over time:
A client engaged Kings Workplace Solutions to investigate a complaint from 3 young staff of sexual harassment from their female manager.
The key facts of the case were these:
The manager was in a relationship with a man (who did not work for our client) and she and he were engaged in alternative sexual practices and were interested in approaching her subordinate staff to be involved in those practices; one day the manager invited all her team around for a bbq at her house along with other guests under the guise of a team get together; at the bbq she and her partner identified numbers of her young staff who might be candidates to be involved in their activities, people who were young, inexperienced, unlikely to complain; she and her partner profiled people and made a shortlist; a few weeks later the manager was offered tickets by a sales contact to go to the AFL football one Friday night; she sent an e-mail out to her team seeking expressions of interest from staff who might like to go to the football; she said in her e-mail it was first come first serve, whoever got back to her first would get tickets; however she selected people from her shortlist; on the night of the football game there happened to be a send off at work for a manager; the company paid for first round drinks and finger food, the function was held in a private room and the room was paid for by the company; at the function the manager sexually harassed her staff and as this was a work related activity her behavior was unlawful, not only putting people at risk but the organisation; the young people were fearful of raising concerns; the manager, her partner and the selected staff then left the function and went to the football where during the game, sexual harassment occurred between the manager and her staff (male and female) and illicit drugs were offered; the staff were concerned about raising issues against their manager so they did not; because the tickets to the football came through the context of work, her behaviors toward her staff were considered to have occurred during a work related activity amounting to unlawful sexual harassment, placing people and the company at risk – organisations are liable for the conduct of their employees in this context unless they show they took all reasonable precautions to prevent the behavior; the party left the football, intoxicated and returned to the function where the same rules applied in regard to work place activity and unlawful behavior occurred, again presenting a risk to people and the organisation. The investigation found the behaviors to be unlawful and the manager was terminated and employees provided access to counseling services. We assisted
Workplace Bullying can lead to tragic outcomes.
A young apprentice committed suicide following months of bullying at the hands of his co-workers.
The key facts of the case were these:
A young man started work as an apprentice; his mentor was a more mature man who took a dim view of having to train a young guy, a young guy who in his mind asked too many questions and was ‘wet behind the ears’; their relationship deteriorated over time, the mentor started not talking to his apprentice sometimes for hours on end whilst on field trips and in cars and on jobs; the apprentice felt he wasn’t getting the instruction he needed for his trade and became frustrated; the mentor felt the young apprentice was a ‘smart-arse’; team members started to become affected when on jobs and when working as a group; the apprentice started to experience exclusion and bullying behaviors; on one field trip the young apprentice was physically assaulted by his mentor on three occasions whilst in a company car on the way home from a job; alcohol was involved with the mentor; the apprentice was dropped off at his home with bruises and minor cuts and torn clothing; he went to the police and reported the assault but was fearful of reprisals at work so told the police to not investigate; at work the team covered up the assault and bullying, hiding the incident and bullying from management; as time went by the dynamics in the team changed and people felt pressured (by those who feared exposure to bullying and exclusion of the apprentice) to either conform with the deception or leave the team; the team became more and more dysfunctional, the experience at work was arguably affecting the apprentice’s home life and personal relationships which started to break down, it is said that the whole of person comes to work the whole of person goes home; the apprentice was found by his father at home, he was dead, the apprentice had hung himself. Our client needed significant support in responding to this experience.
Mediation is very effective at resolving conflict.
A client engaged Kings Workplace Solutions to assist in the resolution of conflict between two male staff.
The key facts of the case were these:
Two men who had worked together from some time were having difficulties in the manager subordinate relationship; the subordinate man felt he was being bullied and micro managed; the manager felt the employee was being difficult and obstructionist; both men had stopped talking to each other; the subordinate staff member wanted an investigation because he no longer trusted his manager and would not entertain a mediation; during the preliminary process of investigation Kings Workplace Solutions explained the mediation process, gained acceptance and support and de-escalated the complaint bring the parties into a successful mediation; the outcome was that the two men found a new way of working together and resolved their areas of conflict.
Training can change organisational culture and reduce risk.
The key facts of the case were these:
Kings Workplace Solutions recently concluded a 2 year training program for a national client who was seeking to raise literacy and awareness around fair treatment of people at work and equal opportunity. This program was a response to a number of workplace behavior complaints and identified behavioral risk within the organisation – our training program was fun, engaging, full of stories and hypothetical discussion around conflict, behavior complaints and resolution methodologies. Our program also provided good corporate governance processes by establishing compliance around equal opportunity.
