The Age yesterday revealed that WorkSafe, charged with regulating workplace bullying in Victoria, wass itself subject to widespread claims of bullying.
A spokeswoman for WorkSafe Minister Gordon Rich-Phillips last night said the watchdog's board was preparing an assessment about a range of ''organisational issues'', including bullying, after the minister raised his concerns.
''The minister expects these concerns to be addressed,'' spokeswoman Kate Walshe said.
''The Coalition government has taken a leadership role in the important issue of workplace bullying and we are concerned about the allegations of incidents of workplace bullying at WorkSafe,'' Ms Walshe said.
As more current and former WorkSafe workers alleging bullying emerged, chief executive Greg Tweedly's response to the allegations yesterday further inflamed staff. Many believed he was seeking to blame them.
In a staff memo responding to The Age's story, Mr Tweedly said WorkSafe had gone through change and ''in some instances change has been accompanied by internal complaints''.
Karen Batt, the secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union, said Mr Tweedly was avoiding the issue of bullying.
''All I know from our industrial officers is there are a number of people quite angry about the memo, which they believe is saying they can't cope with change,'' she said.
Mr Tweedly also told ABC radio that The Age's figures on bullying cases were ''wrong''. The Age reported that the union has handled almost 100 bullying and stress complaints against the agency in the past five years, with more than 20 so far this year.
The report also said senior WorkSafe staff knew of eight bullying-related complaints currently before, or heading to, Fair Work Australia.
These figures were put to Mr Tweedly in a recorded interview last week. His response was: ''I've got no way to verify most of those [figures]. I have no way of knowing that is the case.''
He has denied a culture of bullying exists at WorkSafe, backed his managers and defended the internal complaints process, which the union and many staff say must be made more accountable.
Mr Tweedly's explanation about internal complaints did not stack up, said one working inspector. The inspector said most of the bullying complaints did not come from areas of change and if WorkSafe had been confronted with an employer facing so many complaints, the excuse of ''change'' would be dismissed.
Another WorkSafe employee said senior management had their heads in the sand. ''It's a shocking, shocking culture,'' the employee said
Melissa Fyfe and David Rood
September 20, 2011
1 comment:
When I was bullied at work, I rang WorkSafe to ask for advice. The woman I spoke with was lovely and compassionate, making me feel comforted and understood. But she also mentioned in our conversation about bullying, that there was a lot of it going on within WorkSafe and that two of her colleagues were on stress leave! I was surprised at this, but speaking to my psychologist later, she said it was extraordinarily common and she counselled many of them!
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