BULLYING, HARASSMENT, VICTIMIZATION AT WORK AND THE BERMUDA LAW
From "What laws would you like to see modernized, reformed or introduced for the benefit of Bermuda?"
Go to the project
"Disclaimer": I have campaigned on this for 10 years. I have spoken directly to individual Government Ministers verbally and in writing (names reserved....for now), submitted the same to a 2012 media broadcast on Human Rights, and shared the same during the 2016 EAP AGM on Bullying. I received many complimentary comments at the AGM from all sorts of persons of position, however, support cannot stop at "well said".....we need to DO and with committed collective intelligence, we need to come to a unified, positive end in service of the greater good.....not tomorrow, eventually, at some point.....TODAY! In respect of covid19, we have all now seen that crisis is no respector of persons. Employment security can be shaken at any time, for any reason. While one day it may not be "your problem", the next day it could be.
The message: Employees need to be encouraged to speak up and know that any attempt by an Employer to retaliate or ostracize (including the very real practice of blacklisting) such employees will be penalized harshly. Amendments to the Employment Act 2000 and Human Rights Act 1981 are one way to achieve this reform.
Bullying is truly and consistently running rampant in both public and private workplaces. I have experienced repeated attempts to self-advocate, in one case, for 6 protracted years, yet the deficiencies of these Acts proved to be the scapegoat for Employers in violation of basic ethical principles of respect and equality.
The Human Rights Act 1981: While this Act speaks to sexual harassment, harassment comes in many more forms than sexual. The Government publication “Dignity At Work – Policy and Complaints Procedure”, expounds on harassment and in pages 33-38, there you will find a substantial source of content for revision to the relevant Acts. Important to note is victimization on pages 37-38, of which bullying, harassment, and discrimination are all modes of.
The Employment Act 2000: 1) Section 4 “Meaning of Employee” needs review if for no other reason than with the unknown validity for defined exclusion, should come the exclusion of wage taxation for Government purposes (payroll tax and social insurance) OR, just do the right thing and respect ALL workers enough to have them protected by law, 2) Section 28 “Unfair Dismissal” is hardly exhaustive to what is truly unfair, ie how fair is it for your job to be even threatened by a supervisor because you asked for assistance to complete a large-scale project or because you didn't take part in the optional practice of decorating a Christmas tree? What about when you attempt to bring managed staff into alignment with company-wide policies by not permitting paid vacation for employees with under 6 months tenure, what aside from an unfair regime permits this to be a matter of discipline?
Further to this Act, Section 19(2) “Probationary Period” and Section 26(3) “Termination for Repeated Misconduct” also warrant review. These provisions are being used as scapegoat resources to unfairly terminate employees when there truly is no valid reason to do so. While the law speaks to "valid" as well, there is no resource which actually reviews this detail. Terminating an employee in the last hour of the last day of their probationary period should raise at least one eyebrow. If this employee was indeed a valid concern to business operations, how do you account for the timing of the separation?
Dismissing an employee has magnified ramifications to the person's well-being, ability to provide for self and family, and thereafter societal contribution. It should not be a practice so easily come by with the support of the law but vice versa, the law should definitively support in theory and practice, keeping persons gainfully employed. It is most definitely the case that we need to get more people employed, and even trained to be gainfully employed, but the matter of urgency that I present is in keeping people employed. If a legal framework is not present to keep people employed, the valiant act of training and employing will be for naught.
The acts of bullying/harassment/victimization are discriminatory practices that should be deemed unlawful. This does not need to be approached gently. The message needs to be applicable to public and private employers and needs to be clear, direct, and immediate. I would hope that the task to enforce such a wholesome endeavour does not deter anyone from the reality of the legitimate need.
