The emphasis of National Stalking Awareness Day 2014 (24th April) will be on dealing with stalking in the workplace. Suzy Lamplugh Trust, who manage the National Stalking Helpline, offer the following guidance on the subject.
It is important — and mutually beneficial — for employers and employees to be able to feel safe during their time at work. Stalking can have extremely detrimental effects on employees and these effects become apparent in the performance of an employee, which in the long term will affect the company/organisation as a whole. This article will look at the steps employers and employees can take in order to ensure any disclosures of stalking are addressed and resolved appropriately.
Background
It is a legal requirement under Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 that employers ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all employees. Therefore a stalking policy is important in order to maintain a safe environment for staff.
When creating a policy, it’s important to take into account that stalking can take place in many forms; the stalker could be another colleague or a client or it could be someone unrelated to the workplace but who makes contact with the victim at work due to the ease of access or in order to cause them further distress.
It has been reported that nearly half of all stalkers will present themselves at their victim’s workplace. Typically, these are cases of the rejected stalker, where the ex-lover or spouse harasses his former intimate at her work (Mullen et al 2009:173).
This creates risk not only for the victim but also others who may have to interact with the stalker if they do turn up on the premises.
Victims targeted by a stalker can display symptoms in line with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression (Mullen et al 2009: 272-7). This will obviously have a domino effect on the victim’s efficiency at work, which will eventually hurt the company/organisation as a whole. For example: It has been found that 50% of stalking victims have ‘curtailed or ceased work as a consequence of being stalked’ (Mullen et al 2006: 177).
Research has also found that victims of stalking or harassment can suffer from falling productivity, absenteeism, or tension arising from lack of understanding or support from other co-workers, which adds to their distress and isolation (Mullen et al 2006: 177; Stalking Risk Profile 2011).
The actions of workplace stalking are not limited to the primary victim, but may increase the risk colleagues are exposed to as they may become indirectly targeted by the stalker, especially if they are perceived to be preventing access to information about, or contact with the stalking victim. Wider effects that the organisation might experience include general reduction in morale, and increase in stress.
Actions that can be taken
Many of the callers to the National Stalking Helpline tell us that they are reluctant to disclose what they are experiencing as they fear that others will not be able to understand what they are going through or provide them with helpful support. It is therefore important that supervisors and managers are aware of signs which indicate that a staff member may be experiencing stalking. Identifying that an employee is experiencing difficulties at an early stage will lead to appropriate help being offered, which will help the victim to deal with their situation much more effectively.
Below is a list of practical measures employers should implement into their stalking policy in order to improve the well-being of employees and reduce the negative impacts caused:
Conclusion
An employee who is being stalked or harassed should be able to feel secure at work, knowing that their employers have robust measures in place in order to deal with the situation and keep them safe. This security will benefit both employer and employee.
On 24th April Suzy Lamplugh Trust will be holding a free conference in Central London for employers, police and support workers that will educate and inform delegates about what can be done to support and protect those who are being stalked at work, either by a colleague or someone external to the workplace. If you would like to attend the conference, have any queries about stalking in the workplace or would like to order any information/resources for the awareness day on 24th April, contact [email protected]
In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, ‘Burnout, stress and being human’, Heather Beach is joined by Stacy Thomson to discuss burnout, perfectionism and how to deal with burnout as an individual, as management and as an organisation.
We provide an insight on how to tackle burnout and why mental health is such a taboo subject, particularly in the workplace.
