Organizations must adjust their protocols in accordance with the rules of the new anti-discrimination ordinance, which comes into force on August 1 and seeks to prevent and punish workplace harassment.
35% of 80 companies that report to the CMF and that were analyzed in the First Report on Business Equity and Good Corporate Governance of ChileMujeres do not have training programs on workplace harassment, and 52.5% had complaints in this area. This year, with the entry into force of the Karin Law – which modifies the Labor Code regarding workplace, sexual harassment or violence at work -, that situation should begin to change.
Jorge Arredondo, leading partner of the Albagli Zaliasnik studio, maintains that companies must begin work along the lines of risk prevention and analysis. It also indicates that companies must prepare by training their lines of command, because that is where the cultural change must start. ‘It is a change in standard, where the employer must be active in suppressing risk environments, but also in investigating complaints received. ‘, he highlights.
Evelyn Muñoz, manager of the legal area of Auditeris, points out that on many occasions workers are violated, even by clients or suppliers who have ‘inadequate or aggressive treatment’. She appreciates that the standard seeks for the employer to regulate these situations, ‘identifying them, training their workers and establishing a clear complaint procedure in the event of their occurrence.’
The lawyer suggests that the mechanism to apply these protocols should be in the company’s internal regulations, since the law establishes the obligation to have said instrument in those companies that have ten or more workers. Those that do not have this duty will have to inform their staff about the prevention protocol and their respective sanctions, he states.
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Source: Diario Financiero, Thursday, April 25, 2024.
