THE convention against violence and harassment at the workplace was overwhelmingly adopted at the 108th Session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, recently.
It is unfortunate Malaysia had to abstain due to reasons that do not represent the universal conscience on the subject of harassment and violence, especially to those who are vulnerable.
The argument that there is no universal definition on what constitutes harassment is flawed because if one looks from the prism of respecting human dignity, one could derive a universal understanding on what constitutes harassment at the workplace.
The respect for human dignity here is not about supporting a particular lifestyle of a group, it is about creating conditions of work that is dignified that would help the nation in human capital development and productivity.
After some soul searching, the Malaysian Trades Union Congress has come out to support this convention. It is an opportune time for the government, Malaysian Employees Federation and unions to come up with a universal understanding on what constitutes harassment and violence at the workplace, in line with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention. Eliminating harassment and violence should be included in the Employment Act.
ILO says violence and harassment at work refer to unacceptable behaviour and practices, or threats thereof, whether a single occurrence or repeated, that are likely to result in physical, psychological, sexual or economic harm, and includes gender-based violence and harassment.
We have no laws on harassment and violence at the workplace, except for sexual harassment.
The ILO convention covers workers and other persons, including employees as defined by national law and practice, as well as persons working irrespective of their contractual status, persons in training, including interns and apprentices, workers whose employment have been terminated, volunteers, job seekers and job applicants, in all sectors, both in the formal and informal economy, and in urban and rural areas.
I have came across cases where foreign workers were intimidated or manhandled. I was told of a well-known company in Ipoh that allegedly forced women to transfer to a different section or unit without good reason. In the hospitality industry, I have seen verbal abuse of interns by senior chefs.
Employers seem to take harassment lightly as there are no laws on non-sexual abuses.
It is time the government improved the Employment Act to prevent harassment and violence.
Ronald Benjamin
Secretary, Association for Community and Dialogue