Workplace Bullying: what are your rights?

Tuesday, 4 December 2018

For people seeking help for workplace bullying there are various avenues of support.

Retirement commissioner Diane Maxwell was stood down on Tuesday, pending an investigation into workplace bullying, while National Party MP Maggie Barry also faces new allegations.

And a survey undertaken by Worksafe shows that close to one in five people a year experience bullying behaviours at work, such as fault-finding, public humiliation, being singled out or receiving verbal or sexual abuse.

The effects are often deeply traumatic for those targeted.

'It can be totally devastating,' Val Leveson, an Auckland-based counsellor said.

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'It can exacerbate or bring on anxiety. I've heard of people killing themselves,' counsellor Val Leveson.

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'Often if people have a proclivity for depression they can get depressed. It can exacerbate or bring on anxiety,' Leveson said.

'I've heard of people killing themselves. It can be tremendously dangerous. The bully is trying to murder somebody's confidence and sense of self.'

For people seeking help for workplace bullying there are various avenues of support, including a free mediation service run by the Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment, which has also begun collecting data on sexual harassment in the workplace in an effort to tackle the issue.

If an employer receives a formal complaint they have a legal obligation to investigate.

EAP Services is another provider offering a mix of professional and confidential counselling services to businesses, focusing on employee wellbeing.

Leveson said that self care was about being believed and working through it.

'If you have got a friend or family member who will really hear your story, then talk to them. But generally I would say that if it is breaking down your confidence it's a good idea to see a counsellor.'

It's not only about seeking help, however.

'One approach which is good for self care and working out if they've got a case is to document everything. Absolutely everything should be written down. When you document it you can see how sustained it is,' Leveson said.

Employment lawyer Susan Hornsby-Geluk said that employers should have policies in place that set out the range of options for an employee who feels they are being bullied or treated unfairly.

'Those options range from informal intervention, to confronting the alleged bully, or filing a formal complaint.

'If an employer receives a formal complaint they have a legal obligation to investigate it but if the issue is raised in a less formal way there might be low level ways to deals with it,' Hornsby-Geluk said.

If informal approaches aren't successful at resolving a complaint, then a personal grievance could be raised.

'Claims can be raised even if the action is a one off action. [But] In that regard bullying claims usually relate to repeated action.

'Employees have a choice of raising a grievance through the Employment Relations Authority or they can make a claim under the Human Rights Act, in the event that the claim either relates to sexual or racial harassment,' Hornsby-Geluk said.

For an employer there is also the risk that an unproven allegation could blow up and prove career ending. Protecting both the employees and the company reputation means developing a culture of accountability.

'I don't think having a policy in place is enough on its own,' Hornsby-Geluk said.

'The employer should create a culture where employees feel they have someone to go to and have the confidence to do that. And in that regard they need to know that if they do raise an issue that the employer will do something about it.'