HR ministry to study proposal to legislate sexual harassment
Celine TanPublished: May 15, 2001 11:34 PM | Updated: Jan 29, 2008 10:21 AM
The government will study a proposal to legislate against workplace sexual harassment, Human Resources Minister Dr Fong Chan Onn said today.
The proposal was submitted by the Joint Action Group Against Violence Against Women (JAG).
Fong said a committee, comprising officials from the Labour Department, will be set up to study the proposal and discuss problems relating to eradicating sexual harassment with various organisations, including JAG.
"We would also have to talk to employers and unions to come up with a suitable framework," he added.
However, Fong said his ministry was more in favour of strengthening the existing voluntary code of practice against sexual harassment in order to make it "morally binding" on employers.
The "Code of Practice on the Prevention and Eradication of Sexual Harassment at the Workplace" was implemented last August but has only been adopted by about 50 employers nationwide as of March this year.
"We will try to encourage employers to adopt and enforce the code of practice as the code encourages each company to have an internal check-and-balance mechanism [that] would solve problems at the root and prevent [them] from taking place.
"Right now, we are trying to encourage employers and unions to include sexual harassment as a point in their collective agreements," he added.
He said that the code of practice, implemented last year, must be given time to work and that since its launch, many companies have sought the ministry's assistance in incorporating clauses on sexual harassment into their collective agreements.
Fong was speaking to reporters after the hand-over ceremony of the memorandum, "Stop Sexual Harassment", which includes calls for legislation and a petition signed by 12,000 members of the public over a six-week period.
The memorandum by JAG was endorsed by 64 women's, social, community, professional and political groups.
The petition was initiated by the Women's Crisis Centre (WCC) in Penang, following a case in Penang early this year where four out of six women who complained of sexual harassment by their employer were accused of making false allegations and dismissed after a domestic inquiry was convened to discuss their cases.
WCC president Zarizana Abdul Aziz said the sense of helplessness which engulfed these women at their point of crisis demonstrates the need to legislate against sexual harassment.
She said that while the code of practice was influential in creating awareness on the issue of sexual harassment and gave women a hope of redress, it stopped short of guaranteeing victims the right to redress.
"There are no guidelines or procedures (of redress). The code relies on internal mechanisms to settle problems but because sexual harassment is a complex issue and involves at least two parties, these procedures will not work," said Zarizana."We want something where the employers are compelled to act and people know what to expect.
"To be able to work in a harassment-free environment is a right, not a privilege bestowed on workers by any sensitive and responsible employers."
Zarizana added that ensuring a harassment-free environment would also be beneficial to employers as employees' productivity would increase and, as such, it is in the interest of employers to help eradicate sexual harassment from the workplace.
The proposal was submitted by the Joint Action Group Against Violence Against Women (JAG).
Fong said a committee, comprising officials from the Labour Department, will be set up to study the proposal and discuss problems relating to eradicating sexual harassment with various organisations, including JAG.
"We would also have to talk to employers and unions to come up with a suitable framework," he added.
However, Fong said his ministry was more in favour of strengthening the existing voluntary code of practice against sexual harassment in order to make it "morally binding" on employers.
The "Code of Practice on the Prevention and Eradication of Sexual Harassment at the Workplace" was implemented last August but has only been adopted by about 50 employers nationwide as of March this year.
"We will try to encourage employers to adopt and enforce the code of practice as the code encourages each company to have an internal check-and-balance mechanism [that] would solve problems at the root and prevent [them] from taking place.
"Right now, we are trying to encourage employers and unions to include sexual harassment as a point in their collective agreements," he added.
He said that the code of practice, implemented last year, must be given time to work and that since its launch, many companies have sought the ministry's assistance in incorporating clauses on sexual harassment into their collective agreements.
Fong was speaking to reporters after the hand-over ceremony of the memorandum, "Stop Sexual Harassment", which includes calls for legislation and a petition signed by 12,000 members of the public over a six-week period.
The memorandum by JAG was endorsed by 64 women's, social, community, professional and political groups.
The petition was initiated by the Women's Crisis Centre (WCC) in Penang, following a case in Penang early this year where four out of six women who complained of sexual harassment by their employer were accused of making false allegations and dismissed after a domestic inquiry was convened to discuss their cases.
WCC president Zarizana Abdul Aziz said the sense of helplessness which engulfed these women at their point of crisis demonstrates the need to legislate against sexual harassment.
She said that while the code of practice was influential in creating awareness on the issue of sexual harassment and gave women a hope of redress, it stopped short of guaranteeing victims the right to redress.
"There are no guidelines or procedures (of redress). The code relies on internal mechanisms to settle problems but because sexual harassment is a complex issue and involves at least two parties, these procedures will not work," said Zarizana."We want something where the employers are compelled to act and people know what to expect.
"To be able to work in a harassment-free environment is a right, not a privilege bestowed on workers by any sensitive and responsible employers."
Zarizana added that ensuring a harassment-free environment would also be beneficial to employers as employees' productivity would increase and, as such, it is in the interest of employers to help eradicate sexual harassment from the workplace.
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