Presented by Zoran Bukarica - OHS Officer 23 Sept. 2013 OVERVIEW - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Presented by Zoran Bukarica - OHS Officer 23 Sept. 2013

OVERVIEW  Definitions and terminology (overlap with other laws)  The Challenges  Assistance for members who are experiencing bullying  Bullying Reporting form  Internal Process for dealing with Bullying Allegations (Flowchart)  Managing Conflicts of interest  Assisting a member to defend bullying allegations  Role of the OHS Bullying & Harassment Officer  Information and Education  ANMF’s Commitment

WHAT IS BULLYING?  WorkSafe Victoria definition (October 2012)  “characterised by persistent and repeated negative behaviour directed at an employee(s) that creates a risk to health and safety”

EXAMPLES OF BULLYING There are a broad range of direct and indirect bullying behaviours:  abusive, insulting comments or offensive language (incl. face-to-face, phone, email, text msg’s, social media)  humiliating or putting someone down in front of others  spreading malicious rumours or misinformation about someone

EXAMPLES OF BULLYING  changing work rosters and leave, to deliberately inconvenience a particular employee(s)  deliberately excluding someone from workplace activities  excessive scrutiny at work, unjustified criticism or complaints  setting unreasonable timelines or constantly changing deadlines  setting tasks that are unreasonably above or beyond a person’s skill level  withholding information that is vital for effective work performance

WHAT IS NOT BULLYING?  A single incident of negative behaviour  Low level workplace conflict  Reasonable management actions (if carried out in a fair and reasonable manner)

WHAT IS NOT BULLYING?  Examples of Reasonable Management Actions:  setting performance goals, standards, deadlines  rostering and allocating working hours  transferring a worker for operational reasons  deciding not to select a worker for promotion  informing a worker about unsatisfactory work performance if undertaken as per Agreements, such as performance management guidelines  informing a worker about inappropriate behaviour in objective, confidential way  implementing organisational changes or restructuring  termination of employment

TERMINOLOGY Use of appropriate terminology and distinction between these related concepts is really important:  Harassment - “unwelcome behaviour that offends, humiliates or intimidates a person because of a particular personal characteristic protected by anti-discrimination laws”(i.e. race, age, gender, disability, religion, sexuality)  Discrimination  Direct discrimination - unfavourable treatment because of a ‘protected’ attribute in an area of public life  Indirect discrimination occurs where a requirement, condition or practice disadvantages a person with a protected attribute

THE CHALLENGES  Downwards bullying from managers with authority over staff (power position) very common in health sector workplaces  Embedded bullying culture common in smaller workplaces incl. aged care facilities  Difficulties for staff to raise their bullying complaint against a D.O.N if their bullying behaviour is condoned by CEO & Board  Members are often forced to accept what is happening or eventually resign and many leave the profession

ASSISTANCE FOR MEMBERS WHO ARE EXPERIENCING BULLYING  Advice and information provided by Info. Line  Referred to Organiser - assess allegations, assist with formal complaint or investigation process  Encouraged to seek counselling at Nursing and Midwifery Health Program (NHMP)(Initiative of the Nurses Board of Victoria and ANMF (VB))  Encouraged to submit Workers Compensation claim for psychological injury

THE PROCESS  Managing Bullying Complaints flowchart  ANMF initial contact – via Info Line, Organiser  Lodging workplace complaints, pursue investigation  Lodging WorkSafe complaints  Application for internal review

ANMF INITIAL CONTACT Part 1 - ANMF Initial Contact 1. Has the member documented details of the alleged incidents? E.g. Diary of events with dates, times and witnesses? Refer to Bullying Reporting Form

WORKPLACE POLICIES AND PROCEDURES  Always encourage member to obtain workplace policies on bullying and issue resolution/grievance procedure  Formal complaint should be made in accordance with Bullying policy  Often complaint is not handled in appropriate manner or in accordance with policy – we can then refer to policy  What if there is no policy?

BULLYING REPORTING FORM  Assists members to document details of their bullying incidents in an appropriate format  Incl. date, time, location, witnesses, what happened, action taken and any accompanying supporting documentation  Assists ANMF staff to assess bullying complaint  Does alleged behaviour fall within the definition of workplace bullying (or is it reasonable management action)?  Does the behaviour look like harassment or discrimination or something else?

LODGING WORKPLACE COMPLAINTS

THE COMPLAINT  Essential that the complaint be well written, using a structured, chronological outline  Quality of complaint can impact on investigation outcome  Should only include relevant details  Should avoid any emotive and inflammatory language  Should be written objectively and factually

INITIAL MEETING/DURING INVESTIGATION  Role of ANMF  Distinction between support person and representative  Support during process

AFTER THE INVESTIGATION  Review of outcome and investigation process  Review of planned action  Negotiation of appropriate action following outcome  Even if allegations are unsubstantiated, management action may still be appropriate  Creative solutions may be required to resolve issues

LODGING WORKSAFE COMPLAINTS

APPLICATION FOR INTERNAL REVIEW

MANAGING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST  Inter-member disputes  Referred to relevant Industrial Officer for delegation to another Organiser or the OHS B&H Officer, where required  The ANMF’s role is not to take sides in inter-member bullying issues

ASSISTING A MEMBER TO DEFEND BULLYING ALLEGATIONS  Obtain copy of Bullying policy  Allegations must be specific in nature  Request copy of allegations and relevant details  Assist with responding to allegations  Ensure procedural fairness for investigation

ROLE OF ANMF OHS BULLYING & HARASSMENT OFFICER  Provide advice to Organiser during process  Review the allegations and determine if they constitute bullying or not  Provide advice of appropriate next steps  Attend meetings with member if required by the Organiser  Determine whether the investigation process was appropriate  Determine whether the planned actions are appropriate  Review the workplace Bullying policy and procedures  Review whether appropriate to contact WorkSafe to make complaint or not

ROLE OF ANMF OHS BULLYING & HARASSMENT OFFICER … CONT  Write to the employer when investigation/outcome/planned actions are problematic  Attend meetings with employer to negotiate appropriate actions to resolve the bullying issues  Consideration of injury to employment as result of making complaint  ? s242AA Accident Compensation Act action  ? s76 OHS Act action  Legal referral to ANMF lawyers where indicated

INFORMATION AND EDUCATION  Information and Advice  ANMF (Vic Branch) Info. Line provide advice and information  Workplace Bullying Policy  Guide to Assist members – Workplace Bullying (on-line)  Bullying Information Packs (sent out to member)  Brochure, Articles in newsletters  Education and Awareness  Seminars for Prevention of workplace bullying (x2 per year)  Professional issues conference  WorkSafe Approved HSR training provider

ANMF‘S COMMITMENT  The ANMF (Vic Branch) believes that bullying behaviour is not acceptable and should not be tolerated in any workplace.  Everyone at the workplace has a responsibility to ensure that bullying does not occur  Everyone should be expected to work and behave professionally and treat each other with tolerance, dignity and respect