The workplace and workers’ ill treatment

BY PRISCILLA CHRISTOPHER

The workplace is an agent of socialization whereby people from diverse back
    grounds, religious affinity, beliefs and culture come together to pursue  a common course  for their own good and that of the firm or company. It is the only place where one’s physical prowess, skills, intellects and abilities are converted into resources, services and goods which in turn generates money for the payment of workers and sustenance of the business. Be it a public, corporate, casual or private entity, the workplace is a place for every person having the longing for food, clothing and shelter. 

Being a minefield capable of bringing out enough or very little, depending on the effort put into it, it satisfies and keeps the workers in control of whatever returns they get from the meager or adequate job as the case may be. 

From time immemorial, the workplace has served as an avenue for the practical application of learnt skills for sake of productivity and increased turnover, profit and inputs wherever workers are found as well as a ground for mutual relationship and co-existence among workers. Sequel to this, the workplace serves as a venue for the development of communal relationship, peaceful co-existence, tolerance and understanding regardless of status, class, qualification and age, with exception to superiors wherein, relationships are restricted to a certain level and defined. This cordiality has often made the workplace a home away from home such that, many would prefer to spend the entire day at work rather than at home but for the unavoidable work stress. 

This is not to say however, that all work places are receptive and warm as not all have the same people, atmosphere and working environment. While most work places are an embodiment of respect, virtue and charity; others are an epitome of carelessness, lack of unity and love, as well as hatred. 

In the latter scene, workers relate with such indignation that one would wonder if anything ever binds them.  Malice, resentment and grudges takes the order of the day as only those who can stand on others’ toes get to the limelight or peak of the organization’s ladder. Other features of such workplaces include, being humiliated or ridiculed in connection with your work, physical violence, pressure from someone else to do work below your level of competence, gossip and rumours being spread about you or having allegations made against you, injury in some way as a result of aggression or violence, having your views and opinions ignored, being insulted or having offensive remarks made about you, someone continually checking up on your work when it’s not necessary, being treated in a disrespectful or rude way, being excluded from the affairs of your organization, being given an unmanageable workload or impossible deadlines, hints or signals from others that you should quit your job, persistent criticism of your work, being treated unfairly compared to others, teasing, mocking or sarcasm which go too far. Being shouted at, feeling threatened in any way and so on.  

In many workplaces, one has to fight hard for his/her rights or forfeit the fruits of his/her hard labor, while some others have relieved their staffs of their appointment without paying them their dues or compensating them for the loss of the job thus, rendering such workers hopeless and frustrated. In such instances, the employer may either see his employee as undeserving of his pay or as bait for the accumulation of other selfish interests.

With the integration of women into the workplace, the general workforce has experienced the peaceful and feminine touch of progress, organization and order though, at a price which may be considered high for them. They are abused for their rights and exploited for their dues, and those who cannot succumb are shown the way out without a second thought.   

Another key feature of a workplace is the pressure it places on low-key staffs. Workers who fall into this category are the less-experienced, less educated or lowly qualified in their respective fields. Their duties are made twice or thrice more than others when compared and their pay, non-negotiable. This goes alongside series of queries, policing and provoking utterances by their superiors. Moreover, after years of waiting and hoping for a better tomorrow, many organizations, after promising their artistes of being staffed, send them packing by employing a little percentage of them. This is very common in government parastatals where many wait as ‘just workers’ upon the year they will be officially called to duty. It is easy to ask why such workers prefer to maintain such lowly position than to go out and search for a more promising means of sustenance but in a society as ours where a bird in one’s hand is worth more than two in the bush, one would readily prefer to remain a ‘half staff’, hoping to be ‘full’ someday than to be regarded as jobless even for a day.

Another phenomenon which is becoming a tradition in many workplaces is the delayance of salaries which often times protracts to denial. The issue of people establishing business without a capital base and plan for workers remuneration seems like a plague which has come to stay. In such places, workers are recruited, happily received and staffed for months without signs of payment. They are later dismissed without even an apology. While most workplaces are preparing to positively surprise their staffs this yuletide, others are set to retrench theirs with little or no compensation. Yet, there are many places in which workers are not paid or given much financial reward but there abide in leaps and bounds good, healthy relationship among staffs.

Whichever way a workplace is structured, it must have the interest of its workers at heart and show regard for their person and general welfare. Employers should ensure to give their workers a sense of belonging, create a friendly environment and carry them along in all of the company’s biddings. This would ensure the smooth running of its affairs for the good of everyone.