eAlert: Lessons from the Van Rijn report

Workplace bullying, intimidation, sexism and discrimination are still very common. This is true not only for the public broadcasting sector, which was recently criticized by the Investigative Committee on Conduct and Culture of Broadcasters in a report. Employees in other sectors may also be confronted with inappropriate behaviour, which is not only harmful to the health and well-being of employees, but also to the reputation and results of the organization.

As an employer, you have a legal duty to provide a safe and healthy work environment for your staff. But how do you achieve that? How do you identify the risk factors that foster inappropriate behaviour? How do you establish clear rules and procedures? How do you hold people accountable for their conduct? How do you handle reports and complaints? How do you create a culture of respect and integrity?

The report of the Van Rijn Commission has the telling title 'Nothing seen, nothing heard, nothing done – The lost responsibility'. It offers practical tools to address inappropriate behavior in the workplace. Although the report is based on a thorough investigation of the situation in the public broadcasting sector, the recommendations are relevant for all employers. Some examples are:

• Employers must have a risk assessment and evaluation (RI&E) and an action plan (PvA) based on it, which pays attention to psychosocial workload. This is required by the Working Conditions Act.
• It is common (but not mandatory) for employers to have a code of conduct with provisions on inappropriate behaviour, a confidential counsellor and a complaint procedure. A (proposed) bill to make a confidential counsellor mandatory is currently under discussion in the Senate.
• It is important to clearly define within the organization who is responsible and when, and to ensure that they also take that responsibility.
• The board sets the tone for the culture within an organization. It is common for one board member to be in charge of personnel policy. The committee questions this. Strategic personnel policy should be the responsibility of the entire board. The same goes for signals of structural misconduct. These should always be discussed by the whole board.
• The supervisory body of an organization (for public broadcasters the Raad van Toezicht) has an important role in ensuring a safe work environment, and must regularly discuss the follow-up of reports and signals with the board and the works council.
• It is important that organizations have a strong HR function. Promoting a socially safe work environment should be a recognizable task of the HR function, which is subject to regular consultation with the board.
• Compliance officers often perform their role in addition to other roles within the organization. This does not have to be problematic, but increases the risk of role confusion. This makes the role of compliance officer even more complex.
• Employers must consult with the works council about the working conditions policy. This is required by the Working Conditions Act. The works council also has the right to approve the adoption of the RI&E and the complaint procedure.

If you are serious about creating a socially safe working environment, the Van Rijn report is a 'must-read'. The report can be found here.

Creating a safe work environment may seem to depend mostly on culture and policy, but it also involves legal aspects:

• How do we define unacceptable behaviour?
• What are the possible employment law implications for the complainant and the accused?
• How do we handle anonymous complaints?

Stay informed of the current legal developments regarding inappropriate workplace behaviour by visiting our blog page.