Fri, Nov 19, 2010 page2

• Group highlights workplace assaults

  CORPORATE CONCERN: Abuse during working hours not only hurts the victim, but can damage the employer in terms of lost productivity or image and client relations

  • By Loa Iok-sin / Staff Reporter
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  The Modern Women’s Foundation yesterday urged employers to extend a helping hand to employees who may be victims of abuse by their spouses or coworkers

  “According to news reports, as many as 115 attacks or cases of abuse by spouses or partners occurred between January last year and June this year, causing death or injuries to 173 people,” foundation chairwoman Pan Wei-kang (潘維剛), who is also a Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) legislator, told a press conference in Taipei.

  “In fact, while most cases of abuse occur at home, the workplace ranks second in terms of locations where abuse is most likely to happen,” she said.

  The foundation conducted a survey of more than 1,000 working women and found that almost 11 percent said they had been harassed or abused by their partners at their workplace, while 25.8 percent told said they had seen colleagues being harassed or assaulted by coworkers.

  Workplace abuse included harassment via telephone or e-mail, physical attacks, harassment or threats against victims’ colleagues, blackmail and damage to victims’ personal effects.

  Just over 74 percent of respondents had helped or been helped by colleagues after being harassed or abused by their spouses or partners, while only 39 percent said their employer was willing to provide assistance.

  “We urge employers to be more alert and be more supportive when employees become targets of assault or harassment by their partners or spouses at the workplace,” foundation executive director Yao Shu-wen (姚淑文) said.

  Wang Lih-rong (王麗容), a professor of social work at National Taiwan University, also emphasized the role of employers in addressing the problem.

  “If you don’t help your employees, you’re actually losing money, though the losses may not show in the books,” Wang said.

  “When an employee is harassed and does not get any help from the company, he or she will become less focused and less efficient at work, which can harm relations between your company and your clients and hurt overall performance of the company as other colleagues may have to compensate for the victim employee — bad performance can damage the company’s image,” Wang said.

  “Not helping a victim employee undermines the company’s productivity, performance as well as profitability,” Wang said.

  An employer can assist victimized employees by giving them a more flexible work schedule or provide counseling, Wang said.

  “More importantly, when you show your employees that you care [about their welfare], it has a beneficial effect on morale among employees and helps the company,” Wang said.
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