By law, all employers are required to take reasonable steps to prevent and promptly deal with bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination. For it to be handled promptly it cannot be worked through on the fly, rather everyone needs to understand how these situations will be handled before they arise.
A well-designed Code of Conduct for small business and a comprehensive Workplace Bullying and Harassment Policy for larger organisations sets a clear directive about standards of expected behaviour that all staff need to comply with. This is one step organisations can to take to prevent inappropriate, disrespectful behaviours and bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination.
An up to date policy and complaint procedure is one important Reasonable Step that will encourage a culture of respect within your organisation, and help mitigate your vicarious liability in relation to bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination.
Well-designed conflict management systems as part of your policy and complaint procedures, provide a number of options for employees to address both conflicts, and more serious behaviours including allegations of bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination.
Aboto can assist your organisation to develop a Respectful Behaviour Policy (incorporating directives on bullying, sexual harassment and discrimination), conflict management systems, and grievance procedures that are based on current models of best practice, and in line with current legislative requirements.
All policies and conflict management systems are tailored to your business needs – no matter how big or how small your organisation.
If your organisation plans to develop a workplace bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment policy in-house, Aboto can supply a respectful workplace behaviour policy template. This policy template can then be modified to achieve a clear workable policy and complaint procedure for significantly less investment than if you started from scratch. The policy template includes definitions, a respectful behaviour policy (incorporating bullying, discrimination and harassment) and both a formal and informal complaint procedure.
This policy template can be purchased through our online store.