Avoiding workplace stress

Gaurav Sharma has been expelled from Caucus because he demanded an investigation into his allegations of bullying, and would not accept the Labour Party offer of mediation. Just the sort of egotistical nonsense we expect from our politicians.

Out in the real world, bullying is a major issue as shown in a recent District Court decision against ACC. Yvette Phillips was an employee of theirs who was bullied, harassed, and humiliated by management, resulting in work-related mental injury, commonly known as workplace stress.

The corporation denied any wrongdoing and denied any cover for this injury. However Yvette, as an employee for seven years, knew their own legislation better than ACC and took them to Court, where the District Court Judge ruled emphatically in her favour.

Now that the court has recognised that workplace bullying can cause a workplace injury, one day an employee is going to sue an employer, not so much for compensation for personal injury, but for exemplary or special damages. The argument will be the actions of the employer were so bad/ foreseeable/provable that they justify a special category of damages. All the more reason for employers to be proactive about workplace stress. One of the simplest things to do is to set up EAP – an employee assistance programme – for all staff (available throughout New Zealand from a range of providers).