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KUCHING, July 25: A warning has been issued to companies that fail to act against sexual harassment incidents in the workplace, as it can cost them RM50,000 per incident.
This was said by Minister of Women, Early Childhood, and Community Wellbeing Development Sarawak, Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.
“Prior to the passing of the Anti-Sexual Harassment Act (2022), employers were asked to follow a code of practice, but sadly the uptake across the country was not good, though some companies did put in place reporting mechanisms.
“Now it is a legal requirement, and sexual harassment has a legal definition which is ‘any unwanted conduct of a sexual nature, in any form, whether verbal, non-verbal, visual, gestural, or physical, directed at a person which is reasonably offensive or humiliating or is a threat to his wellbeing’,” she said at the ‘Sarawak Energy for Zero Tolerance for Sexual Harassment’ programme today.
The Dalat assemblywoman added that offenders might be liable for reparation to their victims for up to RM250,000 or be jailed for two years and are also required to issue an apology to the victims; if the harassment were committed in a public setting, the apology would have to be public as well.
“The Act also requires companies, like Sarawak Energy, to actively promote anti-sexual harassment behaviours among their workforce by displaying relevant posters and materials to educate their employees,” she said.
She also said that the most effective way of tackling sexual harassment is by addressing the issue through establishing preventative and grievance mechanisms at the organisational level.
“I am pleased to see that Sarawak Energy has already taken steps towards this, implementing relevant initiatives and programmes across the company—including essential awareness events such as today’s ‘Zero Tolerance’ session,” she said. — DayakDaily
