TASK SUMMARY:You are to read the case studies and complete the questions that follow.
WHAT DO I NEED IN ORDER TO COMPLETE THIS ASSESSMENT?
Access to textbooks and other learning materials
Access to a computer and the Internet to upload your answers to StudentWeb in Word or PDF form.
WHEN DO I DO THIS TASK?
You will do this task in your own time.
Due Date as per the Unit plan
WHAT DO I NEED TO DO IF I GET SOMETHING WRONG?
If your assessor marks any of your answers as incorrect, they will talk to you about resubmission. You will need to do one of the following:
Answer the questions that were incorrect in writing.
Answer the questions that were incorrect verbally.
CASE STUDY 1: PRASAD MOVES TO AUSTRALIA
Prasad recently joined SupportKids, taking on the role of the team leader.
Prasad has recently moved to Australia from India. He was very pleased that his experience with children in need in India has been recognised and he could get employment in a team leader’s role.
Prasad had been employed in India for over 15 years, during which time he had campaigned for children’s rights and had made many inroads into the care and protection of children across the country. Prasad was known to be a skilled and dedicated social worker.
After settling into his new role, Prasad noticed some of his team members making quiet jokes when he was around the office. Some would giggle or quietly laugh when he would speak and do silent movements ridiculing his natural gestures.
During lunch times, Prasad overhead some of the team mention his name and put on an Indian accent during their conversation. This happened more obviously when Prasad was giving the team updates during their weekly catch ups.
Furthermore, one of the team members, Ben, would send regular emails to the rest of the team with jokes and comical images about the Indian culture. When Prasad attempted to ignore these jokes about him, he also noticed the responsiveness of his team decline. They were not supportive of his requests and lacked the team cooperation and loyalty that he needed to get tasks done.
Prasad began to lose his confidence with his new role and team leadership. He felt humiliated because of his culture and ethnic background, and he could not understand why his team were not as welcoming as he expected. They did not make him comfortable in his position as their team leader.
Eventually Prasad withdrew his interaction with the team over time, cancelling meetings and confining his communication to emails rather than face-to-face discussion.
The jokes about Prasad failed to cease and became targeted at his withdrawn behaviour. He became agitated and depressed until he completely withdrew himself from the workplace and ceased working due to increasing stress.
Prasad was also homesick, as all of his family and friends resided back in India.
- What legislation or standards does this situation breach? Provide an explanation to support your answer.
The Working Time Regulations 1998 (as amended) – minimum daily rest periods of 11 hours, unless shift-working arrangements have been made that comply with the Regulations; but from the case we can see Prasad is forced to working overtime something which is against the laws set yet steps are not taken to avoid a risky situation from occurring. - Describe the implications (risks, consequences, penalties) that could arise to both employee and employer as a result of this situation.
-Loss of trust between employees since the company information can easily be leaked or hacked due to advanced technology in place.
-Can easily bring up errors during task taking due to poor communication
-Causes time wastage since someone can assume that nothing has communicated hence communication has been done via email without notification - Describe the responsibilities of Prasad, the work team and management
Responsibilities of a team leader include decision-making, coaching, mentoring, developing the team’s skills and managing conflict.
Coach team members-An effective team leader is coaches’ members on achieving goals and developing necessary skills that get results.
Develop team strengths and improve weaknesses- It is also the responsibility of the team leader to identify the team’s strengths and weaknesses. By determining which team member excels at which task, you can delegate the required tasks to the appropriate person
Identify team goals and evaluate team progress-In order to measure team success, it’s important to identify what success means. Evaluating goals and determining how the team will measure success can prevent miscommunication.
Resolve conflict-Because teams are made up of different personalities, work traits and motivations, conflict can sometimes occur. The team leader is responsible for preventing conflict where possible and resolving it when it does arise. - Imagine you were the manager. Explain how you would respond to this situation if this occurred at your workplace. Include reference to legal compliance, policies and procedures, training requirements, monitoring and compliance review and assessment.
-Train my employees on good ways of communication in the workplace
-Always ensure that every employee is comfortable in whatever department he/she is working on
-Use transfer technique to shuffle employees such that they can interact with various people and learn on how to associate with each other.
-Ensure respect is within employees
CASE STUDY 2: KELLY AND THOMAS ON NIGHT SHIFT
Kelly has just completed her Certificate IV in Community Services and is very pleased to be given a job working as a youth residential care worker.
Kelly enjoys the work and finds the house supervisor to be very helpful in teaching her the ropes.
After a few months, the house supervisor advises Kelly that he will be placing her on night shift with the other night worker – Thomas.
Kelly is a bit uncomfortable about working with Thomas, especially during the night, but she appreciates the responsibility of working nights. The shift penalties also mean more money in her pay.
When Kelly starts working with Thomas, he casually questions her about her personal life. He asks her questions about whether she has a boyfriend and about her first time sexual encounter.
Kelly finds this intrusive as she has never been asked these type of questions by anyone else in a workplace. But she thought this might just be Thomas trying to be friendly and make an effort to get to know her better.
Kelly has a strong commitment to her job and a loyalty to do her best for her young clients.
Thomas begins to give Kelly compliments on how she dresses and presents herself, most especially when she wears a skirt. He makes comments like, ‘If I wasn’t already married and I was your age I would be all over you by now!’
Kelly’s discomfort around Thomas grows when he starts to read sexually explicit content in magazines that they confiscate from their clients. He also shows her pornography on the Internet, saying that he has caught the clients accessing it.
One night when all the clients were in bed asleep, Thomas asks her to have sex with him.
Kelly calls the on-call manager, saying she is sick and needs to leave her shift immediately.
She never returns to work.
- What Commonwealth legislation does this situation breach? Provide an explanation to support your answer.
Give the name – explanation
Sexual harassment under Commonwealth and NSW law- The Sex Discrimination Act 1984 (Cth) prohibits sexual harassment in the workplace. Under section 28A of the SDA, sexual harassment is defined as ‘an unwelcome sexual advance’ or 14 ‘unwelcome request for sexual favours’ or ‘unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature’ as Thomas wants to have sex ith Kelly yet Thomas is married where ‘a reasonable person having regards to all of the circumstances, would have anticipated the possibility that the person harassed would be offended, humiliated or intimidated’.
- Describe the implications (risks, consequences, penalties) that could arise to both Kelly, Thomas and the employer as a result of this situation.
consequences
Termination-For this reason, most organizations have a specific policy regarding workplace harassment, which stipulates what is considered harassment, how to report harassment and the punishments for harassment. If the harassment is severe or happens more than once, an employee may be fired. For this case termination could work well in a way that one of then to work day time.
Penalties
Jail -Harassment is a criminal charge, and if the victim presses criminal charges, the person doing the harassing may face jail time. The amount of jail time, probation or community service the convicted harasser receives is based on whether the harassment was a misdemeanour or a felony and in what state the crime was committed.
Risks
Fire Thomas – Because Thomas is violating the rights of Kelly sexually the Employer should Fire Thomas in-order for Kelly to work in a conducive and respective environment whether night shift or daytime. - Describe the responsibilities of Kelly, Thomas and the employer.
Kelly and Thomas (employee)
Co-operate with your employer and others
Tell your employer if they think something is mischievous
Attend training
to personally do the work they were hired to do
Employer
Appointing competent supervisors.
Providing (upon request), in any information in the possession of the employer
Taking every precaution reasonable in the circumstances for the protection of an employee. - Imagine you were the manager. Explain how you would respond to this situation if this occurred at your workplace. Include reference to legal compliance, policies and procedures, training requirements, monitoring and compliance review and assessment.
compliance review and assessment.
Job reinstatement or promotion – This is an order to reinstate Thomas to his job or to give the Kelly a promotion.
Mandatory training and counselling- give counselling and training sessions to Thomas
Suspensions or terminations -suspend Thomas such he can correct on his mistakes (SwartzSwidler, 2020)
legal compliance
Apart from company rules and regulation, every state has its rules and regulations which should be followed by every civil servant or citizen in any workplace, our company should not be an exception we must follow the set rules to ensure the organisation is scandal free for smooth running of activities, projects and services
policies and procedures
company policies and procedures should be followed to the later, if one goes against them tough actions should be applied to the victim
training requirements
maximum training should be done after every 4 months such that nobody does this against the requirements and company policies
monitoring
ensure CCTV’s are installed in the workplace such that if such scenarios occur we are able to carry out reliable and exact evidence from the video and audio recordings
CASE STUDY 3: HELPING OUT A FRIEND
Thomas is suspended from work and a disciplinary investigation process is in progress.
Thomas calls, Ben, who works in the HR department.
Ben is a friend of his from years ago. They used to play football together and often go out for drinks on Thomas’s nights off. They arrange to meet at the pub that night.
Thomas buys Ben a beer and fills him in on what has happened – he has been wrongfully suspended from work! According to Thomas, Kelly has thrown herself at him during night shift and when he threatened to report her, she got in first and said it was him who assaulted her!
Ben had heard something about the suspension and was very glad to hear that his friend was not in the wrong.
Thomas asks Ben if he could get the disciplinary file out of the HR Manager’s office and photocopy it for him so he knows what is happening in the investigation. This will help him as he will be able to see Kelly’s statement and what the investigator has said in the report.
He needs the information before he goes in front of the investigation committee next week.
If Ben can get the report, Thomas promises that he will never tell anyone.
Ben feels sorry for his friend and the next day he works back late. He finds the HR Manager’s office key and ‘borrows’ the file. He makes a copy.
On his way home he drops in at the pub and gives Thomas the photocopies. Ben can’t believe the lies that Kelly has told about Thomas in her statement – he feels really sorry for his friend as it looks like it will just be Kelly’s word against his, and everyone knows that the female is always believed over the male in a sexual assault case!
Thomas buys Ben another drink. ‘Cheers,’ Thomas says as they clink bottles. Thomas grins widely.
- What legislation, Acts or codes does this situation breach? Provide an explanation to support your answer.
Act of Unconscious Bias – in relation to the case study we can clearly see that Thomas and Ben are trying to extend their friendship to the office. Ben is favouring Thomas and even wants to take a risk of going to the HR’s office to smuggle the report that Kelly had already gave information on what was on. (Storey, 2017) - Describe the implications (risks, consequences, penalties) that could arise to both Thomas, Ben, Kelly and the employer as a result of this situation.
Risks
Ben can lose his Job if its noticed that he gave the report to Thomas
Thomas can end up being taken to jail because of petty things he is trying to do to cover up that he is guilty.
Employer can be suspended because he does not have the right people in the workplace.
Consequences
Creates a hostile working environment
Lack of trust in the workplace
Causes absenteeism and turnover because the outcome is already known
Penalties
They should be fined
They should be taken to court of law and judged on the alleged scenario such that Kelly can get justice done on her - Describe the responsibilities of Ben, the HR manager and the employer.
Ben
follow your employer’s instructions
cooperate with your employer when they require something to be done for safety
HR manager
carry out his duties in a transparent and accountable manner;
keep accurate records and documents relating to his or her duties;
carry out his or her duties in a manner that protects the integrity of his or her office;
employer
to ensure accountability by a public officer for his or her decisions or actions;
to promote discipline;
to promote honesty;
to provide mechanisms for the management of conflicts of interest; - Imagine you were the manager. Explain how you would respond to this situation if this occurred at your workplace. Include reference to legal compliance, policies and procedures, training requirements, monitoring and compliance review and assessment.
Survey employees about their experiences with unconscious biases, as well as hidden barriers that may exist within the organization. Tailor training and intervention according to these findings
Encourage the discussion of biases in the workplace. Self-awareness is the first step, and it is key. We need to own up to having them before we can address them
Implement policies and practices that ensure that unconscious biases are not impeding efforts towards developing an inclusive and diverse workplace
CASE STUDY 4: REVISING THE PROCEDURE
Jenny works in the local neighbourhood centre in the administration department. Jenny’s department is responsible for ordering and storing stationery for the entire centre.
The procedure for receiving orders of stationery the centre reads as follows:
SAFE WORK PROCEDURE – DELIVERIES AND STORAGE OF STATIONERY
The administration staff will be responsible for accepting and storing stationary orders.
Procedure:
When stationery orders are delivered, check the content of the delivery to ensure it matches the delivery docket.
Sign the delivery company’s documentation.
Immediately move stationery received into the storeroom. If the box is too heavy, ask another worker to assist with moving the box.
Unpack the stationery and store it as follows:
Small items for everyday use – store on low and middle shelves.
One box of photocopy paper to be split into individual reams and stored on easy to reach shelf.
Remainder of boxes of photocopy paper to be stored (in boxes) on top shelf.
Staff must use the ladder provided to lift the boxes onto the top shelf.
Yesterday Jenny received a large order of stationery. She was busy with other work so she asked Martin to help her so she could get through it faster.
One of the boxes was very heavy, so Martin said he would move it to the storeroom. Jenny offered to help, but he said he was fine. Unfortunately Martin tripped over his own feet when he was moving the box and fell down the small step that led into the storeroom.
He had to be taken to hospital – he had fractured his wrist.
After all the drama of Martin’s accident died down, Jenny decided to put all the stationery away herself.
She had almost got everything done, but the last items were six boxes of photocopy paper. Jenny used the ladder as instructed by the procedures to put the boxes on the top shelf. By the time she got to the fourth box she was exhausted – it was hard work lifting boxes up a ladder!
Just was she was about to put the box on the shelf, her foot slipped on the ladder step. She fell onto the floor – thankfully the box did not hit her! However, Jenny still ended up with cuts on her leg from the metal ladder, and lots of bruises and a very sore ankle and arm.
Naomi is the new manager of the neighbourhood centre. She has been on the job for not even two weeks. She is horrified that two accidents could occur on the same day, and in the same place.
Naomi investigates the incident and when she reads the procedure she is shocked at the manual handling processes that staff are being advised to carry out. She is surprised there hasn’t been more serious accidents.
She knows the procedure must be fixed immediately!
- Revise the neighbourhood centre’s procedure so it correctly advises staff how to use safe manual handling procedures. You may like to refer to the Code of Practice for Manual Handling for your state or territory.
For example: Code of Practice for Manual Handling No 25, Worksafe Victoria, April 2000 http://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/9426/COP25_manualhandling.pdf.
-Identifying the options for controls. A control option may be a single control or it may be made up of a number of different controls that together provide protection against a risk.
- Considering the control options and selecting a suitable option that most effectively eliminates or reduces risk in the circumstances. (University, 2009)
- Suggest three other actions that Naomi could take to make the storage process safer.
- take account of existing health and safety controls
- look at how work is actually being carried out rather than relying on written manuals and work procedures
- look at abnormal situations as well as how things are normally meant to occur. Consider maintenance and arrangement as well as breakdowns of equipment and failures.
References
Storey, S. (2017). Business Consultant and Organisational Change Consultant. Unconscious Bias — Making Millions From Theory.
SwartzSwidler. (2020). Employment Lawyers Fighting for Workers’ Rights in New Jersey, Pennsylvania & Throughout the United States. What Are The Penalties for Sexual Harassment?
University, D. (2009). Manual Handling Guidelines (Code of Practice No.25, 2000). WorkSafe Victoria.