THE new workplace sexual harassment bill represents a paradigm shift in this country, which one Government Senator is adamant should also lead to a cultural revolution that addresses sexual harassment in general.
So says Government Senator and attorney-at-law, Verla De Peiza, as she contributed to the debate in the Senate Chamber yesterday afternoon, as for the second consecutive week, the senators debated the Employment Sexual Harassment (Prevention) Bill. She said while the legislation speaks to workplace sexual harassment, given that the workplace is a microcosm of the society, she hopes that the behaviours persons are expected to exhibit in the workplace will spill over into the wider society.
“Though this legislation does not speak to it, I like all other females look forward to the day when we can walk down the street and don’t hear a single ‘pssst’. We know the difference between a compliment and disrespect; we feel it in our bones, we know when to grab our purses closer to our bodies and walk a little faster,” she said.
She added, “The way we behave outside the workplace will impact how we behave inside the workplace, and that is why I am encouraged that this legislation is the beginning of a turning point in our society where we must face up to the things that we do not like about our culture and fix it. That is what this legislation is about,” she contended.
With that in mind, De Peiza maintained that it is important that the measures outlined in this legislation, which was 13 years in the making, are followed when it is put in place. Moreover, she said it is imperative that the process of following up on reports of sexual harassment are ventilated properly.
“That leads me to my major concern in relation to the legislation and that is in placing responsibility on the Chief Labour Officer and the Employment Rights Tribunal. Have we not reached a stage where we need to be rethinking the formulation of that process, and have what other jurisdictions have, in a permanent industrial court?… I can see how there will be a mushrooming of cases before the Tribunal, especially in instances where businesses, employers are recalcitrant in seeing to their end of the process. Because with this three-step process, any employer can head off a major event simply by dealing in a justifiable manner with complaints that are brought immediately. It is when you allow them to fester and the worker remains aggrieved, that the worker will move on to the Chief Labour Officer and to the Tribunal and maybe to appeal,” the lawyer said.
De Peiza also took the opportunity to issue a word of caution to workers, not to make false complaints about sexual harassment. She said it needs to be drawn to the attention of all employees, that to make a false claim under the legislation would be met with a monetary penalty or worse.
“So then, for the persons who would seek to use a positive piece of legislation for a personal vendetta, think twice. It is already under consideration in this legislation and we need to be alive to that fact because this is a social piece of legislation that is seeking to regulate human behaviour and there may well be instances where a person may seek to use it for personal reasons and not for the reasons intended by the legislation, which is to manage a workplace and make it a safer place to be,” she added. (JRT)