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Recent allegations of workplace bullying in parliamentary offices are a stark reminder that, in high-pressure professional environments, “bullying cannot be normalised or excused, and the wellbeing of staff must remain a priority”, says one senior human rights and discrimination lawyer.
In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy welcomes back Elevate Consulting Partners founder Prabha Nandagopal, who was the senior legal adviser to the Respect@Work inquiry, about the extent to which new positive duties to stamp out workplace misconduct such as bullying and sexual harassment have been adopted by Australian workplaces, the lack of education that businesses may have about those duties, and how new workplace norms such as scattered workforces and communication via new technologies have seen a proliferation in misconduct via new mediums.
Nandagopal also reflects on the fact that a lack of reporting doesn’t mean that misconduct isn’t occurring, the questions that businesses must ask of themselves in ensuring their frameworks are up to scratch, the need for top-down approaches from leadership, the thematic issues with power in the workplace, having good response plans, and why businesses cannot be complacent about their positive duties.
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Harassment is defined as persistent behaviour or acts that intimidate, threaten, or uncomfortably affect other employees at work. Because of anti-discrimination laws and the Fair Work Act of 2009, harassment in Australia is prohibited on the basis of protected characteristics.
