This article is from page 37 of the 2007-04-10 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 37 JPG
ENNIS Chamber of Commerce has urged the Government to make em- ployment legislation more _ under- standable and accessible to small businesses.
The call came as Minister for La- bour Affairs Tony Killeen launched the Code of Practice for Employer and Employees on the Prevention and Resolution of Bullying at Work.
The code is an update of the Health And Safety Authority’s existing code of practice, bringing it in line with
the 2005 Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act.
The Act requires employers to manage work activities in such a way so as to prevent, as far as reasonably possible, improper conduct or be- haviour at work.
The code will come into practice on May 1. Launching it during the week, the minister said the code, “emphasises that the best place to deal with a complaint of bullying is at the level of the company work- place. A significant element of the code places an emphasis on the reso-
lution of incidents of bullying using an informal process and professional mediation services.”
The code explains what bullying means and deals with the responsi- bilities of employers and employees to prevent or resolve it. It also reflects the legal requirement that employ- ers carry out a risk assessment and where bullying is identified as a haz- ard, they ensure that it is included in the safety statement.
Welcoming the publication of the code, Ennis chamber chief execu- tive, Rita McInerney, said that it was
essential that workplace bullying be tackled.
But she added that it was to be hoped that the code was presented in a way which could be understood and incorporated into businesses jo e-le18 (een
“There is such a a high amount of new legislation coming out and it needs to be communicated and de- livered in a consumable fashion,’ she said.
Such is the confusion among busi- ness people about interpreting leg- islation which they are obliged to
implement that the chamber has run courses for its members on under- standing employment legislation.
The code also provides guidance on identifying bullying and gives advice on how to prepare an anti-bullying policy for the workplace.
The code requires all employees and employers to be vigilant of their own behaviours. promotes a “sys- temic and robust method for dealing with cases of bullying as the best way to prevent the behaviour being re- peated and reduce the health effects for those who have been bullied”.