– I am glad that the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority went in to see what is happening in Coop. It gives me hope that it can be a safer workplace. No one deserves to be treated the way I was – in any workplace, says “Jakob”. news has previously reported on “Jakob” who experienced repeated, gross sexual harassment from the male colleagues at the Coop warehouse in Trondheim. He was 19 years old when he delivered the first of several warnings to management. From 2018 to 2021, “Jakob” warned against a total of nine colleagues, before he finally chose to quit. He has been very critical of how Coop handled these alerts. Several employees have told about a culture in the company. The police: The criminal case is obsolete The episodes of sexual harassment were reported by “Jakob” in April 2022, and the police had a thorough interrogation with him. But one month later, “Jakob” received a letter from the police that the criminal case had been dropped. The reason was that “the actions that your former colleagues are said to have committed are so far back in time that they are obsolete”. – It is incredibly disappointing that this did not have any criminal consequences for either Coop or any of the colleagues involved. This has bothered me for a long time, says “Jakob”. He still claims that he was influenced by the bosses not to report the episodes to the police earlier. At the same time, the police informed the closure letter that they were so concerned about what emerged in the interrogation that they had contacted the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority. news case led to inspection But regardless of the tip from the police, the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority had already initiated an inspection on its own initiative. They had in fact reacted to what emerged in the news case with “Jakob”. Sexual harassment is a serious work environment problem, according to the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority. The Working Environment Act is clear that no employees should be exposed to this. – It is the employers who are responsible for a fully safe working environment, says section leader Harald Gran in the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority. On 31 March, a reported inspection was carried out at the Coop warehouse in Trondheim. Representatives from both management, employees and the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority were present. It emerged that Coop “acknowledges that the conditions described have occurred”. It shows documents from the audit that news has had access to. Coop himself writes that they “strongly regret” that they did not solve the personnel case with “Jakob”. They also admit that they “have a challenge on the house”. – Coop has itself uncovered several conditions that can be challenging in terms of risk for mental illness. But even if they take this seriously, they must do improvement work, says Harald Gran in the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority. Photo: Bent Lindsetmo / news Demands that Coop clean up Now the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority has concluded and sent Coop an inspection report with a decision on orders. – How serious is this type of violation of the Working Environment Act? – Orders from the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority are always serious, Gran says. The Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority requires Coop to present a survey and risk assessment of factors in the work that may pose a risk of mental illness. In addition, the company must show the measures they have taken, or intend to take, to ensure that the employee’s health, environment and safety are taken into account. – Coop has done a piece of work before, but they still have a short distance left before they reach the finish line, Gran says. All this must be in place no later than 31 August, according to the audit report. New warnings such as sexual harassment news has once again asked for an interview with the Coop management in Trondheim. But Coop wants to comment via email. Communications Manager Harald Kristiansen writes the following: «We experience that the audit confirms that we are doing a lot right in our work, but that we have a potential for improvement in terms of mapping and risk assessment, and concretization of our measures to ensure a good working environment at our warehouse in Trondheim. We are in the process of following this up. We are not finished until all our employees are well at work. ” During the audit, it was also revealed that the Coop management has received at least two new notifications of sexual harassment at the Coop warehouse in Trondheim. Coop’s head of communications, Harald Kristiansen, writes that he cannot answer whether Coop in the rest of the country has received further warnings about sexual harassment this spring following news’s cases. Photo: John Andreassen – What is the status of these alerts? Have these two alerts had any consequences for anyone? “The aforementioned cases have been handled and resolved in accordance with our routines.” Kristiansen explains that these are personnel matters that cannot be commented on further. “For Coop Norway, it is important that everyone has a workplace where they thrive and feel safe, and we invest a lot of resources to have a good working environment. An audit like this is therefore useful and instructive for us, and allows us to implement further measures where the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority believes we have potential for improvement. ” Believes the notification routines are not good enough Chief shop steward Stig Ove Hovland was present during the audit. He is clear that there should be zero tolerance for harassment. But Hovland, like the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority, believes that Coop has a way to go. – The notification routines should definitely be looked at, he says. Chief safety representative Klaus Beckstrøm says that safety representatives, shop stewards and the management team at the Coop warehouse in Trondheim have been on a harassment course under the auspices of Fellesforbundet this spring. There, they were teased about how the company should handle alerts. – My impression is that it has gone in the right direction. The working environment is getting better. This is something that is now being talked about in the warehouse, says Beckstrøm. SMS exchange from 2020 between “Jakob” and the HR manager at the Coop warehouse. He repeatedly tried to warn of unpleasant episodes. Will prevent harassment This year, the Norwegian Labor Inspection Authority prioritises following up companies with a working environment where there may be a particular risk of mental illness, explains section leader Harald Gran. He emphasizes that all companies should work preventively over time to prevent harassment in the workplace. It is important that they also include the employees in the process. – So that we can have a working environment that is free from harassment and bullying, Gran says. Although all this is too late for “Jakob” and his job situation at the Coop warehouse in Trondheim, he hopes that others will not be sexually harassed in his workplace. – No one deserves to be treated in the same way. I hope that abuse between men can be talked about more now. It is an incredibly important issue in working life that must be taken more seriously, says “Jakob”.
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Employee notified of repeated sexual harassment – now Coop must clean up – news Trøndelag
