IN THE WAKE of the Cronulla race riots, 77 per cent of Australian workers believe racial disharmony is not restricted to NSW beaches and suburbs and has reached the workplace
IN THE WAKE of the Cronulla race riots, 77 per cent of Australian workers believe racial disharmony is not restricted to NSW beaches and suburbs and that it has reached the workplace.
Despite this alarming figure, only 9 per cent of 1,773 workers surveyed have actually experienced racial disharmony in their own workplace.
Racial disharmony can extend beyond expressions of hostility against a person because of their race, colour or ethnic origin, according to John Banks of Talent2, which conducted the survey.
“It can be refusal to allow staff time off to celebrate religious holidays, deliberate and repeated mispronunciation of a person’s name, excluding a person from work opportunities because of their race or origin,” he said.
The survey also found 54 per cent of workers don’t get time off to celebrate religious holidays.
“This can cause tension in the workplace as many offices in Australia close over the Christmas holiday period to celebrate,” Banks said.
“Employers need to ensure that they show respect and are flexible with employees that have religious beliefs that may not be practised by the majority of the workplace.
“If there is an understanding between the employer and employee this will go a long way in assisting in better understanding and harmony within the workplace.”
Yasser Soliman, President of the Islamic Council of Victoria, also said that unpleasant interactions between people of different ethnic backgrounds in the workplace could spring out of wrong perceptions.
“To a large extent, these are not due to personal bad experiences. It’s the fear of having bad experiences with people of various backgrounds,”he said.
If certain workplaces have had bad experiences, Soliman said, it could come down to managers who were unable to handle properly workplace relationships with people from various backgrounds.
In such cases, he said, diversity training could help such managers understand the various issues at play.
“Many workplaces might not have inclusive diversity policies in place. These are usually the smaller, less successful workplaces, but in the larger workplaces I think that’s being covered,” he said.
Soliman said it was important for diversity policies to be championed by someone who understands the issues at play with workers from different backgrounds.
