The Department of Employment and Labour has gazetted its code of good practice aimed at eliminating harassment at South African workplaces.
South Africa has long-standing laws regarding equity in the workplace through the Employment Equity Act and other regulations, but the new code of practice takes things further by aiming to ‘completely eliminate all forms of harassment’ in the workplace.
The code further identifies the steps that employers must take to eliminate harassment, including the development and implementation of policies, procedures and practices that will lead to the creation of workplaces that are free from harassment.
The term ‘harassment’ is defined in the new code of practice as conduct:
- Which impairs dignity;
- Which creates a hostile or intimidating work environment for one or more employees or is calculated to, or has the effect of, inducing submission by actual or threatened adverse consequences; and
- Is related to one or more grounds of which discrimination is prohibited in section 6(1) of the Employment Equity Act.
“Harassment includes violence, physical abuse, psychological abuse, emotional abuse, sexual abuse gender-based abuse and racial abuse. It includes the use of physical force or power, whether threatened or actual, against another person or against a group or community.”
The code of practice a wide range of indirect actions which can be seen as harassment such as gossip or making another employee the butt of a joke.
What is new is the category of ‘passive-aggressive’ or ‘covert’ harassment which may include:
- Negative gossip;
- Negative joking at someone’s expense;
- Sarcasm;
- Condescending eye contact;
- Facial expressions;
- Gestures;
- Mimicking to ridicule;
- Deliberately causing embarrassment or insecurity; and
- Deliberately sabotaging someone’s career performance.