MSBM prepares executives for passage of Sexual Harassment Bill
AS part of its ongoing research for public policy and public education, Mona School of Business and Management (MSBM) recently hosted an executive seminar entitled “Sexual Harassment” in the Workplace: Being Unprepared is Not an Option for Directors at The University of the West Indies UWI), Mona.
The timing of the seminar coincided with the pending passage of Jamaica’s Sexual Harassment Bill (2015), which designates a legal responsibility to employers to protect, manage risks, and set the tone from the top with regard to the matter of sexual harassment in the workplace.
It also comes in the midst of global outcry and mobilisation against sexual harassment in light of myriad such accusations against some of entertainment’s most recognisable figures. While these developments have sparked public discussion in Jamaica, to date there is no evidence of the dramatic effects that have been seen in other countries, which includes public demonstrations, social media campaigns and a series of resignations and terminations of the accused.
It is against this background that MSBM launched a project to help organisations prepare for the eventual passage of the Bill and the expected implications for workplace governance.
One facet of the project is the seminar, which took place on February 10.
A highlight of the seminar was the presentation of ground-breaking research regarding the perceptions of board members regarding sexual behaviour in the Jamaican workplace.
The findings were based on a survey, which targeted both private and public sector boards, that received 126 responses from a diverse range of industries including financial services, manufacturing, utilities, wholesale and retail, health/education, and regulatory bodies.
The survey revealed that 61 per cent of participants felt that Jamaican boards do not pay enough attention to sexual harassment, with only 16 per cent stating that Jamaican organisations had sufficient policies to guard against sexual harassment. Furthermore, 81.7 per cent indicated no knowledge of any discussions within their respective boards of the pending Bill and 75.6 per cent were unaware of the presence of initiatives to manage the risk of sexual harassment. While 67 per cent reported having encountered sexual harassment in the workplace, much less than half of these (43 per cent) made a formal report on the matter.
Commenting on the session, Dr Noel Cowell, head Behavioural Sciences and General Management Unit, MSBM, stated that over the last several months the issue of sexual harassment has exploded on the global stage.
“As such, we felt it was important to address the matter in an open and non-threatening manner and help to prepare our executives to protect both their employees and their organisations,” he added.