2016-12-08 16:00:04 +1100
To: Honey Birdette
Not YOUR Honey - Honey Birdette Workers Need Safe Workplaces!
***UPDATE***
Thanks to our campaign, WorkSafe committed to inspecting Honey Birdette stores for breaches.
Out of 14 workplace visits, WorkSafe found a breach of our health and safety laws and issued 14 Improvement Notices.
They included:
• No safe manual handling training
• No training on how to handle difficult or threatening customers
• Blind spots in stores
• No amenities, such as clean drinking water, provided for workers
• Failure to provide a safe workplace
• Playing music so loudly that staff in the store could not be heard if they needed to call for help.
Bottled water is now available for workers in some stores, and policies relating to safe manual handling procedures have been introduced. While this is progress we should celebrate, there’s more work to be done.
We are making progress, but there's more to do. Please sign and share.
***
Honey Birdette have a responsibility to protect their workers from harassment and discrimination.
We're calling on Honey Birdette to:
- Stop encouraging the sexual harassment of their staff by customers
- Implement policies and training to deal with harassment and bullying from customers
- End their sexist dress code
Why is this important?
Three years ago I walked into a company that promised me a future of female positivity. I was painted a world of inclusiveness and feminine glamour that I was assured came from the truest intentions of the appreciation of their uniquely selected staff members. I felt the pride of this identity and pledged myself to this company, ran by women, as a job that honoured me equally in my beliefs and work ethic.
Honey Birdette promised a dream. They delivered a nightmare.
I saw women mocked for daring to apply for a job at Honey Birdette. I saw workers humiliated and threatened by management because they weren't wearing perfectly applied lipstick all day, their heels weren't high enough, and because they didn't "talk the way a Honey should talk".
I saw workers sexually harassed and intimidated by customers - and when these women spoke up, management told them to suck it up.
In addition, the hours and hours of unpaid overtime we were expected to do - from starting early and finishing late, to skipping lunch breaks and toilet breaks due to the pressure of missing a sale.
Honey Birdette's management pretend they're all about empowering women, but they've sacrificed their values and put their workers in physical danger just to make a profit.
It's disgraceful and it needs to end. Workers at Honey Birdette boutiques have a right to feel safe and respected at work.