FNV also advocates a legal obligation to appoint a confidential counselor after an investigation report on manners in the workplace
On October 13, 2023, the FNV, the largest trade union in the Netherlands, released its own report 'hearing, seeing and speaking silently – manners in the workplace'. According to the report, the workplace is not safe in the Netherlands, especially for women and people with flexible employment contracts. We have been seeing and reading about inappropriate behaviour in the media for some time now. According to the FNV, this is just the tip of the iceberg and the problems are much more extensive. For that reason, the union advocates making an internal or external registration mandatory by law external confidential counsellor.
Striking conclusions from FNV report on manners in the workplace
The FNV report on manners in the workplace, in contrast to the annual large-scale study by TNO, comes with striking conclusions. Where TNO mainly exposes working conditions with figures with the National Working Conditions Survey (NEA), the FNV goes one step further in the investigation by also including questions such as who caused the undesirable behaviour, the visibility and expertise of the confidential counselor and information about (undesirable behaviour. The research also examines employee suggestions for social safety policy in more detail. Striking conclusions that the FNV draws are about the often negative role of managers and the lack of information about the subject.
The role of managers according to the FNV report on manners in the workplace
The FNV report on manners in the workplace is harsh on the role of managers: they are more often perpetrators than solvers. FNV reports that their research has shown that in 50% of cases the manager is the perpetrator. The figures below are based on a survey that was completed by 1725 people between December 2022 and October 2023. Respondents could enter multiple answers.
Lack of information about (un)desirable manners
Respondents from the survey also indicated that insufficient information is provided on the subject. No fewer than 68% of respondents indicated that there is no information material (visibly) available. This is often because the confidential counselor is only called in if a situation has already gotten out of hand. Many people do not know that it is also the role of a confidential counselor to inform managers and employees about (un)desirable behaviour, so that the work culture is improved.
Visibility and expertise of the confidential counselor
The FNV figures also show that the visibility and expertise of a confidential counselor can be improved. There was no confidential counselor present for 13% of respondents. And only 51% percent of respondents indicated that if someone was present, they knew who that person was. In the area of expertise and trust, a third indicate that they consider the confidential counsellor to be expert and approximately 15% do not trust the confidential counsellor.
Following conclusions from a report on undesirable behaviour, FNV calls for changes in legislation and the mandatory presence of a confidential counselor
The FNV proposes five measures that should be included in legislation so that the workplace becomes safer. The Dutch Labor Inspectorate (NLA) already checks for presence in the mandatory requirements for a number of these measures Risk Inventory & Evaluation (RI&E). These are the code of conduct, the presence of a confidential counselor, a complaints procedure and committee. For the extensive article about what the Arbo Inspectorate checks for, see the knowledge base article: What does the Dutch Labor Inspectorate (NLA) do?. New measures mentioned by the FNV are that a ban on non-disclosure clauses must be included and a broader definition of what falls under work, such as commuting. If you would like to view the FNV report, click: here
Trustlr offers a solution to problems reported in the FNV report on manners in the workplace
The FNV report results are not new insights for us at Trustlr. However, it is a good confirmation that Trustlr offers the solution. Trustlr was founded on the belief that creating a safe working culture can be smarter and better and we take a more proactive approach.
Education and Outreach
We provide advice and information well before any escalation. In practice we also see that information is often not provided, because it is seen as secondary importance and because of the additional costs. Trustlr's goal is to make important information accessible to every employee at every company. We do this by offering information via e-learning on our platform, TrustNet. With this we achieve much better results without extra costs.
Managers
As the FNV report also indicates, the role of the manager within an organisation is essential for communicating policy and setting a good example in the field of desired behaviour. This concerns the exemplary function, signaling function and being accessible as the first point of contact for employees.
Our platform also provides information specifically for managers. Especially in these important areas. What does this role model entail, how do I identify undesirable behaviour in the workplace and how do I intervene? Young and inexperienced managers can certainly use these tools. In addition, e-learning helps to raise awareness about one's own behaviour
Visibility and expertise of confidential counselor
An advantage of the TrustNet platform is that our confidential counsellors are clearly visible. All employees know where to find us within the organisations we work with and through the information they provide, they know exactly how we can help them. All our LVV-certified confidential counsellors personally introduce themselves on the platform and employees can choose who they want to talk to.
If you would like to know more about Trustlr, read about our working method on how does trustlr work or schedule a meeting to get acquainted via this link.