Being bullied at work? Well, don’t go to Worksafe

Being bullied at work? Well, don’t go to Worksafe

On August 3, 2018, New Zealand’s primary workplace health and safety regulator announced it would only investigate bullying in the workplace if the victim has been diagnosed as being seriously mentally harmed.

“Worksafe has found a quick way to reduce its own stress, and that is to refuse to investigate bullying complaints,” says Max Whitehead of the Whitehead Group.

Mr Whitehead says that over the last four years, WorkSafe has been notified of 125 cases of bullying and only investigated 11 of them.

“WorkSafe is a government department responsible for policing workplace bullying; however, it appears to be prepared to ignore its prime responsibility. What would happen to our society if NZ Police refused to investigate any crime unless the court had a convicted a murderer?”

Mr Whitehead says a victim of bullying will have wait until a medical specialist has declared them as unlikely to function normally again before Worksafe will intervene.

“It's a sad inditement on our government when its own department is prepared to watch someone being bullyed and harmed and not act.

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