Personal Harassment In The Workplace

The default employer response to personal harassment in the workplace is to put both people in a room with a mediator. It is quick, it feels even-handed, and it is often the wrong call.

Mediation assumes two parties with something to resolve between them. Where one person has been targeted, it treats them as half the problem and asks them to negotiate about their own treatment.

It also delivers a poor outcome. The affected person, sitting opposite someone who has been wearing them down for months, tends to agree to whatever ends the meeting.

Mediation suits a genuine two-way conflict and works well there. Where the conduct runs in one direction only, investigate it instead, and deal with the behaviour rather than trying to repair the relationship.

Safe Work Australia covers the psychosocial duty. This is general information rather than legal advice, and obligations vary by state and territory.

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