Bullying Discrimination Harrassment Policy Access for Nurses

Purpose

Carestaff Nursing Services (the Company) is committed to the prevention of bullying, discrimination and harassment in the workplace. This policy aims to assist employees in understanding what bullying, discrimination and harassment is and how to promote a climate of mutual respect and acceptance.

At all stages of the employment relationship (recruitment and selection, terms and conditions of work, training and professional development opportunities, promotion and transfer, retirement, retrenchment and termination) employees will be treated on their merits and valued according to how well they perform their duties.

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Scope

• This policy applies to all employees, including:
• full time, part time, casual, permanent or temporary;
• contract or commission workers;
• volunteers, vocational and work experience placements.

It applies to employees whilst:

• At the Company premises
• Attending work-related interactions with fellow employees, and with clients, candidates and other stakeholders;
• Fulfilling work-related obligations;
• At the Host Company/stakeholder premises; and/or
• At a Company sponsored or funded functions or activities during and/or outside working hours.

Other actions by employees outside working hours may also fall within the scope of this policy if there is an impact on the employee’s ability and/or suitability to do his/her job or the actions bring the Company into disrepute.

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Description

The Company does not condone or tolerate bullying, discrimination or harassment in the workplace; such behaviour is deemed to be unacceptable and may be subject to disciplinary action in accordance with Disciplinary Policy. Allegations of bullying, discrimination and/or harassment will be dealt with in a prompt and confidential manner and may reference the Grievance Resolution Policy.

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Principles

1. The Company does not permit violence, threats, abuse, bullying or harassment under any circumstances and will deal with any such incidents through disciplinary or criminal processes as appropriate
2. All employees have a “duty of care” to take all reasonable steps towards the prevention of bullying, discrimination and/or harassment
3. Managers and supervisors are also required to be aware of, identify and eliminate inappropriate behaviour regardless of whether a formal complaint has been received. It is also Managers and Supervisors responsibility to ensure all employees behave in accordance with the principles of the equal opportunity outlined in the Equal Employment Opportunity Policy
4. While it is the Manager’s/Supervisor’s responsibility to provide leadership and guidance as a role-model, employees and co-workers are to be aware of and identify bullying, discrimination and harassment behaviour and also behave in accordance with principles of equal opportunity.



The Company takes very seriously its responsibilities to handle complaints of bullying, discrimination and harassment promptly and impartially.

Definition

Under the Fair Work Act 2009, A worker is considered to be bullied at work if:

• A person or group of people repeatedly act unreasonably towards them or a group of workers; and
• The behaviour creates a risk to health and safety.

Direct bullying involves face-to-face bullying. Examples of direct bullying include, but not limited to:

• Verbal actions such as name-calling, insults, shouting
• Physical actions such as punching or kicking
• Intimidation, including blocking a person’s exit or unexplained rages directed at a person
• Belittling remarks
• Unreasonable persistent criticism which is not part of a Performance Management process
• multi-media and social media i.e. text messaging, phone calls, Facebook, Snap Chat, Twitter, YouTube, instant online messaging.

Indirect

Indirect bullying is when the bullying action is not easily seen by others and is potentially conducted out of sight. Examples of indirect bullying may include, but not limited to:

• Unjustified and unreasonable exclusion from work related activities. This includes not notifying employees of meetings, opportunities, results and outcomes directly affecting their employment or ability to do their job effectively, ignoring an employee at meetings, deliberately omitting or not acknowledging employees’ ideas, contributions and opinions.
• Inappropriate or unreasonable blocking of promotion, training, development or other work opportunities
• Constantly and inappropriately changing and/or setting impossible deadlines, tasks or targets

What is not considered to be workplace Bullying

• Reasonable management action and decisions, discussions or actions carried out in a reasonable way, such as:
• performance management processes
• disciplinary action
• informing a worker about unsatisfactory work performance or inappropriate work behaviour
• directing a worker to perform duties in keeping with their job
• maintaining reasonable workplace goals and standards.
• Management instructions, directions and requirements that are made fairly and appropriately
• Similarly, differences of opinion, conflicts and working relationship issues are part of working life and generally do not constitute bullying or harassment.

Discrimination

Definition

Discrimination occurs when a person treats another less favourably based on the grounds of a certain attribute, which includes:

• race, colour, descent or national or ethnic origin
• sex
• marital status
• pregnancy or potential pregnancy
• family responsibilities
• disability
• people with disabilities in possession of palliative or therapeutic devices or auxiliary aids
• people with disabilities accompanied by an interpreter, reader, assistant or care
• a person with a disability accompanied by a guide dog or an ‘assistance animal
• age
• trade union activity
• political belief or activity
• association with someone else who is identified because of one of the above attributes
• any other attribute protected under anti-discrimination law

Other behaviour that is against the law includes:

• seeking unnecessary information on which discrimination might be based
• victimisation because a person has made a complaint, agreed to be a witness or has had a complaint made against them
• sexual harassment is prohibited under both state legislation and the federal Sex Discrimination Act 1984
• discrimination on the basis of criminal record, medical record or social origin

Workplace discrimination can occur during the employment relationship and also prior to the employment relationship commencing, for example during the recruitment phase.

Types of Discrimination

Direct discrimination occurs when a person (or a group of people) is singled out for worse treatment, compared to others in similar circumstances, because of one or more of the attributes. Direct discrimination may involve, but is not limited to:

• making offensive 'jokes' about another worker's racial or ethnic background, sex, sexuality, age or impairment
• expressing negative stereotypes about particular groups or using stereotypes as a basis for decisions about work
• using selection processes based on irrelevant attributes such as age, race or impairment rather than on skills really needed for the job.

Indirect discrimination occurs when one rule applies to all but disadvantages a person (or group of people) because they are unable, or less able to comply with the rule because they have an attribute. The fact that the disadvantage was not intended is not an excuse. Indirect discrimination may involve, but is not limited to:



• A requirement that all employees need to read and write English fluently when this is not needed for all jobs within the company
• Dismissing an employee due to their inability to attend meetings or training courses on weekends or in the evenings because of home duties or ethno-religious beliefs
• Not considering the provision of some reasonable adjustments within the workplace would disadvantage a person with an impairment, who may be able to perform the essential parts of the job in a different way.
• Circumstances which are not considered to be discrimination:
• There are some circumstances where an action may not be considered discrimination. This includes where the action:
• Is permissible under State or Territory Anti-Discrimination Laws
• Is based on the inherent requirements of the particular position concerned
• Is taken against a staff member of an institution run in accordance with religious beliefs, and the action is taken in good faith to avoid injury to those religious beliefs.

Sexual Harassment

Definition

Sexual harassment is any form of unwelcome sexual attention that might offend, humiliate or intimidate the other person and may be experienced by any type of sex.

Examples of Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is determined from the point of view of the person feeling harassed and it does not have to be repeated or continuous to be against the law. Examples may include, but not limited to:

• uninvited touching or physical contact
• leering at a person or at parts of their body
• talking about an individual’s sex life or asking about another person's sex life
• sexual jokes, pictures or propositions
• direct or implied propositions, or requests for dates
• sexually offensive communications (phone, email, SMS or other social media)

Some forms of sexual harassment are also criminal offences, such as:

• assault;
• physical molestation;
• stalking;
• sexual assault; and/or
• indecent exposure.

Circumstances which are not considered to be sexual harassment:

Mutual attraction or friendship with consent is not sexual harassment.

Victimisation

Definition

Victimisation is when a person treats or threatens to treat another person unfavourably (which may include humiliation/adverse employment opportunities) because that person:

• made a complaint or intends to make a complaint; or
• assisted another person to make a complaint; or
• refused to do something because it would be bullying, discrimination, sexual harassment or victimisation. A person may be found liable for victimisation even though the original allegation is not proven.

Examples of Victimisation

Victimisation can include physical, visual, verbal and non-verbal behaviour. Examples include, but not limited to:

• Humiliating a staff member in a meeting because they gave evidence in support of a fellow employee’s complaint of sexual harassment
• Refusing a promotion to an employee because they lodged a discrimination complaint.

Consequences of non-compliance

Failure to comply with the policy may result in consequences outlined in the Disciplinary Policy which may include termination of employment.

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Related Documents

• Grievance Resolution Policy
• Disciplinary Policy
• Equal Employment Opportunity Policy

Relevant Legislation

• Australian Capital Territory – Discrimination Act 1991
• Australian Capital Territory – Discrimination Act 1991
• New South Wales – Anti-Discrimination Act 1977
• Northern Territory – Anti-Discrimination Act 1996
• Queensland – Anti-Discrimination Act 1991
• South Australia – Equal Opportunity Act 1984
• Tasmania – Anti-Discrimination Act 1998
• Victoria – Equal Opportunity Act 2010
• Western Australia – Equal Opportunity Act 1984.
• Australian Capital Territory – Discrimination Act 1991
• Age Discrimination Act 2004
• Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992
• Racial Discrimination Act 1975
• Sex Discrimination Act 1984
• Fair Work Act 2009

Policy Review

This policy will be reviewed at least annually (or more frequently if necessary due to technical or other business policy requirements). The Company reserves the right to suspend, modify, or withdraw this Policy at any time. The Employee is responsible for regularly reviewing its terms.