The Enforcers

The Enforcers are not a secret group of heroes. The Enforcers are all staff at Westpac, working together to protect our working rights. Knowing the rights that we have won previously, and working together are our two secret weapons.

Finsec is launching it’s Enforcers campaign on Wednesday, October 4. All Finsec members at Westpac have basic rights to the proper pay, fair working hours and payment for overtime, having our tea breaks and adequate sick leave and annual leave when we need it, adequate staffing and a healthy and safe working environment free from bullying.

If you think your team is missing any of these things, join the campaign to enforce our rights.

New Zealand courts could stop workplace bullying

Employment lawyer, Peter Cullen writes in the Dominion Post about the recent British court case where a bank worker was awarded more than £800,000 (NZ$2.2 million) for being bullied at work.

Cullen says this and other recent decisions tell employers its time for them to establish a bullying policy and make staff aware of the unacceptability of workplace bullying.

“Though the awards in Helen Green’s case are exceptionally high and readers should not expect them to be replicated in New Zealand, the judge’s decision on the issues of principle would almost certainly be embraced generally by New Zealand courts.

“The case is a significant one in defending the dignity of employees and upholding the courts’ repugnance of bullying by fellow workers. The employer, not the bullies, had to foot the bill.”

(thanks to atomicfamily for the photo)

Bullied English bank worker wins 817,000 pounds

A Londoner, Helen Green, who had worked for Deutsche Bank until being bullied out of the job has been awarded the equivalent of $2.49 million after a High Court judge found that the international banking firm had engaged in a “relentless campaign of mean and spiteful behaviour designed to cause her distress” which left Green on some occasions crying silently at her desk.

The case has helped to highlight workplace bullying in public discussion with the Guardian, Times and BBC for instance all reporting on how it is a much more widespread and entrenched problem than one large court payout would indicate.

Bullying has been a significant problem in some New Zealand banks as well, with Finsec surveys showing that some managers have used the more subjective aspects of performance pay systems to bully staff over their behaviours and attitudes.

(Thanks to antmoose for the photo)