Violence and harassment in the world of work are persistent, and significant challenges are faced by most businesses. Failure to recognise, prevent and respond to inappropriate conduct and illegal behaviour in a workplace can lead to distrust, individually and collectively lowering morale and ultimately impeding the business’s performance.
It is imperative for companies to proactively address violence and harassment at work and ascertain the effectiveness of workplace policies and practices. Regardless of the size, sector or type of business, anyone and any workplace can be subject to the display or threats of unacceptable behaviours and practices. Violence and harassment, be it physical, psychological, sexual or psychosocial, create a risk to the safety and health of individuals at work and imposes a range of costs that impact workers and ultimately the business itself. These costs include the loss of productivity, higher workforce turnover and increased absenteeism, time and money spent on healthcare, filing complaints and pursuing investigations, and most importantly the victims’ loss of well-being.
It is of the utmost importance that a business has in place a policy that aims to eliminate all forms of harassment in the workplace.
To this end, the RMI has developed a generic “PREVENTION AND ELIMINATION OF HARASSMENT IN THE WORLD OF WORK POLICY” for use by its members that will assist you, our valued members, to ensure that you are in the best position to combat and address the various forms of harassment that may occur in your workplace and sufficiently fulfil the obligations placed on employers and employees to eliminate such harassment within the workplace.
It is important that this policy is implemented in conjunction with your company’s disciplinary code and adapted in line with said code. The policy is also to be reviewed regularly to ensure it meets the needs of the specific business.
Furthermore, members are advised to ensure the following in respect of the policy:
- Ensure employees are educated about their rights and obligations in terms of the policy.
- Make the company harassment policy known to all employees and other parties that have dealings with the company.
- Ensure the harassment policy is available on the relevant company platforms.
- Make reporting mechanisms clear.
- Create ongoing awareness about the duty to report harassment.
Please be advised that whilst the RMI has endeavoured to keep the information in the policy up to date and correct, we make no representations, guarantees or warranties of any kind, express or implied in respect of the completeness, accuracy, reliability or suitability of the policy in relation to your business. Any reliance you place on the policy is therefore at your own risk.
To obtain the policy and for any queries, please feel free to contact the Regulatory Compliance Manager, Julian Pillay at 082 560 6625 or julian.pillay@rmi.org.za Find the complaint form below:
