Media report workplace sexual harassment and assault of young women in hospitality industry

In December 2019, Stuff reported cases of four young women who have experienced sexual harassment and sexual assault while working as employees at KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants at different locations in New Zealand. Their experiences highlighted that harassment was common and identified significant issues with the response from senior staff and the parent company, Restaurant Brands, including:

• "Supervisors and managers did not know how to handle disclosures of sexual misconduct at the stores, told a complainant to stay quiet and in one case, destroyed text evidence.
• Measures to keep complainants safe after they reported the abuse were absent or inadequate.
• The company refused to investigate because 'too much time' had passed.
• Investigations were poorly carried out and complainants were not told anything of the outcomes.
• An alleged perpetrator was paid while the investigation took place, but the complainant was forced to use her leave.
• In some cases, the alleged perpetrator was promoted or moved into a more senior position at other stores, with the company refusing to say whether the behaviour had been found proved."

According to the article, three complainants have lodged complaints with the Human Rights Commission against Restaurant Brands. Restaurant Brands has said they would be conducting a review.

Following the media article, Unite Union surveyed current and former union-affiliated Restaurant Brands workers, identifying additional experiences of harassment and assault. Stuff has continued to document employment issues with the restaurants - see the related media below.

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The International Labour Organization (ILO) is calling on member States (including New Zealand) to ratify the recently adopted Convention Concerning the Elimination of Violence and Harassment in the World of Work and the Violence and Harassment Recommendation. The Convention sets international standards for the rights of all people to be free from violence and harassment at work and recognises that violence and harassment at work can constitute a human rights violation or abuse.

In New Zealand, media first broke stories as part of the global #metoo movement with allegations of sexual harassment and assault in the legal profession including law firm Russell McVeagh.

in December 2019, Ana Lenard, Allanah Colley and Bridget McLay from the New Zealand Women’s Law Journal published the report Purea Nei: Changing the Culture of the Legal Profession. The report explores workplace issues in the legal sector around culture, diversity and inclusion, sexual harassment, bullying, gender equality, training and education, leadership, management, and remuneration. See further updates about changes in the legal profession in the related media below.

The Government has announced work to strengthen the Protected Disclosures Act 2000. The Act provides protections for workers to report serious wrongdoing at work including misconduct such as harassment and bullying. For further information see the State Sector Services Commission.

Update: The Australian Human Rights Commission has published Respect@Work (2020), the final report from the National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces 2020.