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The Daily PollAN EQUALITY AUTHORITY report released today shows that complaints of workplace discrimination have increased by more than half since 2009.
Figures show that the Authority received 2,830 allegations of ill-treatment at work in 2010, up by 60 per cent on the previous year. The complaints related to a wide range of factors, taking in everything from unfair dismissal to allegations of racism.
Employees said they had been bullied or harassed, discriminated against due to their age or gender, denied access to promotion and forced to work in unfair conditions. The report has raised concerns that workplace harassment is a growing problem in Ireland.
So today we’re asking: Have you ever been harassed or bullied, or seen somebody else victimised where you work?
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I was going to write something about what happened at old workplaces, but I still have a fear of my old bosses…..
Something tells me that that is wrong…..but I feel scared to talk, for many reasons. Does anyone else feel that way?
No, what would you be afraid of?
I was bullied too much as a child/teenager to ever let anybody get away with doing so to me as an adult.
Whilst there’s a lot of nonsense of people who won’t do any work and use political correctness to weave a plan of scamming and laziness, there’s a lot of people who suffer terrible work situations that simply aren’t covered by legislation. It also comes down to who has the better solicitor too in many situations.
And in this climate it’s a brave person who leaves a permanent post to be “last in” elsewhere.
The problem with the Equality Authority legislation is that it only covers harassment under the 9 headings, what if you are continuously harassed because your boss/colleagues don’t like you? People in this situation can,t utilise the equality authority , point being the definition of harassment is too narrow to give an accurate poll.
Una,
then it may be interpreted as bullying, and if you are/have suffered illness (stress) from this there may be grounds under Health and Safety at Work legislation and the Employment Equality Act 1998
It is very hard to prove these type of cases as harassment, even solicitors do not take on such cases as they are not certain that there is a case in a first place, unless you have a backing of a union representative than these cases are impossible to prove, but lets be honest how may private companies have unions, pretty much none.
As for bullying and harassment, as one has ever experienced such in a workplace, he/she would have noticed that these individuals choose a particular environment where there are no witnesses.
Again very hard to prove unless one has experienced a complete nervous breakdown and requires hours and hours of psychological assessment which is not cheap.
If you were to address this question to the HSE, and HSE suported services on a stand alone survey, the answer, ( if people were able to be guaranteed privacy) would probably be an astounding 65/70% YES
Having done hr… So many people dont come forward officially! Afraid of the consequences!! Senior execs will often ignore and discourage complaints about those who make money for the company. Its apalling!! Sales is a particularly tough area where people are expected to just put up with it :(
I work in the social care profession. An older colleague of mine was in the defense forces and the construction industry and he said that he never witnessed a fraction of the bullying, harassment, intimidation and general mistreatment of peers and subordinates in those industries that he has seen since he moved to the caring professions and from what I’ve seen in the last five years I’d well believe it.
In my previous job what I found fairly unpalatable was that the bosses used the recession to justify what in my opinion where unfair work practices. For example refusing to pay for overtime rather offering time owed, which they decided when you could have it. With the little brown-noses and friends of the boss getting the first choice. Any time a meeting was held it was always accompanied with if you dont want to do it there are loads of unemployed people who will. Like I have no problem going the extra mile as long as its rewarded and even if it cant be rewarded due to fiscal restrictions it should be at least respected.
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