The government has set up a register for allegations of workplace sexual harassment through the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) and under the direction of Women’s Minister, Julie Anne Genter. The register is intended to understand the scale of the issue in the workplace and help to inform policy to keep workers safe and eliminate workplace harassment.
Calls made to MBIE and mediation services will provide the data for the register. The data will be strictly confidential and withhold all personal identifying features.
Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Jackie Blue agrees with this new initiative and suggests even further that the name of the perpetrator and employer be known to a group like Worksafe.
At present workplace sexual harassment complaints can be pursued through the Employment Relations Authority or the Human Rights Commission. The introduction of the #METOO movement is encouraging more people to report their incidents of sexual harassment. Over 70 calls per year are received by MBIE.
The Human Rights Commission has received 215 complaints of sexual harassment in the past three and a half years – 84 percent of these complaints from women.
Workplace Law team
If you have any queries in respect of the above, or any other workplace law issues, please contact a member of Lane Neave’s Workplace Law team:
Employment: Andrew Shaw, Fiona McMillan, Gwen Drewitt, Maria Green, Hannah Martin, Joseph Harrop, Holly Struckman, Alex Beal, Giuliana Petronelli, Abby Shieh
Immigration: Mark Williams, Rachael Mason, Daniel Kruger, Nicky Robertson, Julia Strickett, Ken Huang, Mary Zhou, Shi Sheng Cai (Shoosh), Sarah Kirkwood, Janeske Schutte, Lingbo Yu
ACC: Andrew Shaw
Health and Safety: Andrew Shaw, Fiona McMillan
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