Creating a Safe Workplace

Preventing, Detecting, and Responding to Workplace Misconduct

Workplace Misconduct in any activity by an employee or contractor that undermines the company’s values, policies, goals, and puts the safety, well-being, and productivity of other employees at risk. Behaviours such as bullying, harassment, discrimination, theft, fraud, workplace violence and substance abuse create a hostile or toxic work environment.

So, it important that companies have strategies in place to prevent, detect and respond to misconduct in the workplace.

Preventing Misconduct in the Workplace

Preventing workplace misconduct is not only the right thing to do, it’s also good for business. A respectful workplace culture attracts and retains top talent and helps build a reputation for integrity and excellence.

You can prevent workplace conduct by:

Hiring good people. Conduct background checks of people before hiring. It is better to prevent an issue then to deal with one after an employee has been hired.
Establishing clear policies and procedures such as a Code of Conduct that outlines acceptable behaviour in the workplace including guidelines relating to ethics, discrimination, harassment and conflicts of interests.
Training employees on expected standards of behaviour and help them to identify misconduct behaviours such as bullying and harassment. As well as understand what to do when they see misconduct behaviour and call them out.
Show employees that you have zero tolerance for misconduct by investigating allegations and if proven implementing penalties to prevent others from engaging in the behaviour.
Support employees if they report misconduct behaviours via counselling programs and supporting people who report alleged misconduct.

Detecting Misconduct in the Workplace

Companies have an obligation for detecting processes for detecting misconduct in the workplace. Regular audits and monitoring can help to provide early detection of misconduct in the workplace, which can address any issues before it escalates any further.

One of the most effective ways to detect misconduct is via an independent Whistleblower program. According to the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, organisations with a whistleblower hotline detected fraud 50% more quickly and experienced fraud losses that were 50% smaller than those without a hotline. Additionally, a study by the Ethics Resource Centre found that organisations with strong ethics and compliance programs, which include whistleblower programs, are more likely to detect misconduct than those with weak or non-existent programs.

Responding to Misconduct in the Workplace

Once misconduct is detected or reported it’s essential to respond promptly and effectively.

Sometimes misconduct can be resolved via mediation or facilitated conversation, with the benefit being that working relationships can be maintained, and it is more time and cost effective. However, in some cases a formal investigation is necessary and may result in disciplinary action or termination of employment to address serious or repeated misconduct.

The most important thing for all companies is to do something about the misconduct. If you do nothing, your company reputation will suffer, workplace culture will deteriorate, and this will make it difficult to maintain productivity and hire/retain a talented workforce.

Noble Shore’s experienced risk management team are experts at dealing with workplace misconduct effectively.

If you are currently dealing with a workplace issue and you need some help, contact us today on 1300 822 694 or click here to book a free consultation.