An incident in politics has again put workplace bullying in the spotlight
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Government Customs Minister Meka Whaitiri has stood aside while an investigation is carried out into a staffing issue in her office.
The allegation relates to a physical incident with another staff member which allegedly involved some pushing.
Moreover, Whaitiri is known to have had issues with high staff turnover with at least five staff members having left since October. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she had accepted Whaitiri's offer to stand aside while the investigation was being completed.
"Meka Whaitiri has told me she will be fully co-operating with the investigation, which will be thorough and conducted as quickly as possible," said Ardern in a statement.
Ardern and Whaitiri said they would not comment further, citing privacy reasons while the investigation is carried out by Ministerial Services.
Workplace bullying has featured heavily in the headlines over the past few months. Research this year by Colmar Brunton found over half of all lawyers surveyed said they had suffered some form of bullying in their career, with 21% of lawyers experiencing bullying in the last six months.
Moreover, anonymous letters in the past two months' editions of Police News have revealed concerns over bullying in the police force.
The senior consultant at VelvetJobs, Joe Flanagan, recently told HRD that the first step to addressing bullying in the workplace is to create a respectful workplace where nasty incidents are not tolerated and where it’s openly acceptable to discuss the topic.
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“Regularly consult with workers to create an open environment where they feel comfortable to speak up,” said Flanagan.
“Set the standard of acceptable behaviour by creating a code of conduct that provides tangible boundaries for staff on an ongoing basis.”
He added that it’s important to provide regular training for staff on this note.
“This provides a framework to work with in the case of a reported bullying instance,” he said.
“If allegations are made, have the victim identify the nature of the incident. Work with them to ascertain if the nature of the complaint does indeed constitute bullying.”