Broken to Safe

PRAISE FOR BROKEN TO SAFE

Broken to Safe is a must-read for anyone who wants to create an inclusive workplace. Fay has taken robust research and translated it into easy-to-understand storytelling, with adaptable templates you can bring to your business. Her intellect shines on every page. This book goes well beyond the concept of diversity to belonging: the key to making sure everyone is safe at work. I would urge every CEO, manager and executive to read it.

Tracey Spicer AM, Author of MAN-MADE and multiple Walkley Award winning journalist

We are how we lead. And in the briefest of glimpses into her background in the opening chapter, Fay provides an insight into why she leads with compassion, resilience and determination. A successful employment lawyer of some 20 years, Fay’s insights and observations are borne from deep experience. Broken to Safe is compelling reading for leaders who need and want to do more for their workplace than merely comply with rules and regulations. Fay’s assertion that ‘culture is at the heart of change’ has never been more true or more challenging to get right. Broken to Safe humanises the key risks and opportunities all organisations face and provides a playbook for best practice. I highly recommend it.

Marina Go AM, Independent Chair, NED and Author of Break Through

This book is a must-read for all leaders. It offers a practical roadmap for creating a thriving workplace culture. If you are a leader who cares about your team members, you won’t be able to put this book down.

Dr. Kirstin Ferguson, Author of Head & Heart: The Art of Modern Leadership

First published 2024 by Fay Calderone

Produced by Independent Ink

independentink.com.au

Copyright © Fay Calderone 2024

The moral right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted.

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher. All enquiries should be made to the author.

Cover design by Catucci Design

Edited by Brooke Lyons

Internal design by Independent Ink

Typeset by Post Pre-press Group, Brisbane

ISBN 978-1-7635796-0-6 (paperback)

ISBN 978-1-7635796-1-3 (epub)

ISBN 978-1-7635796-2-0 (kindle)

DISCLAIMER

Nothing in this book is intended to constitute legal advice. Readers must not rely on the contents of this book as an alternative to obtaining comprehensive legal advice. You should never delay seeking legal advice, disregard legal advice, or commence or discontinue any legal action because of the contents of this book or in any way treat this book as a substitute to obtaining specific legal advice for issues you are dealing with in your workplace.

Contents

Introduction

Part I: Broken at Work

Bullying, sexual harassment and jerks at work

Riddled with fear

On the verge of burnout

Killer cultures

Escaping violence

Navigating uncertainty

Part II: Safe at Work

Start with baseline compliance

Align with purpose, values and trust

Flourish with flexibility and inclusion

Enforce policies and exit jerks

Bringing it all together

Final thoughts

Acknowledgements

About the author

What’s next

This book contains descriptions and discussions of bullying, sexual harassment, racism, domestic abuse, violence and suicide. Please take care while reading it. Support is available at:

Full Stop Australia: 1800 FULL STOP (1800 385 578)

https://fullstop.org.au/contact-us

Beyond Blue: www.beyondblue.org.au

Lifeline: 13 11 14, www.lifeline.org.au

In an emergency, call 000.

In writing this book, I acknowledge the original storytellers on the land that I write from, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. I honour their connection to land, waters and communities and pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging and to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who may be reading this book. Sovereignty has never been ceded. It always was and always will be Aboriginal land.

Introduction

We live in a world where leaders struggle to attract and retain talent and where humans in our workplaces are burning out. It is troubling how many talented humans we lose, or who fail to thrive in our workplaces due to the systemic structural and cultural issues that present barriers to safe and inclusive participation and progression.

Over the years humans have been subjected to unacceptable levels of bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment that have caused them to leave work. Women in particular face serious structural barriers in ‘balancing’ family and work life. People who are culturally and racially marginalised, have disabilities, are neurodivergent, suffer from chronic health conditions or escaping family violence also experience barriers to their healthy participation and progression in the workplace.

I was honoured to interview Walkley Award–winning journalist Catherine Fox for this book and will be sharing her insights with you.¹ She made similar observations about the talent we lose unnecessarily due to the failure to address unlawful conduct and other barriers women in particular face at work. She shared:

There are very few women I know who have not run into some form of bullying, discrimination or sexual harassment in their career. They are being overlooked, having their skills completely underestimated, sometimes ignored.

I have worked with some exceptional women. I think that just about all of them at some point have come across this, although many of them have obviously persevered as well. But it is so hard to quantify the loss. People like you and me know it is incalculable. You come across a talented woman that you just happened to meet at a social gathering and think they should have had an amazing career. But something has clearly happened. They do not say much and they’re not whinging, but you can just tell something has happened to them and it’s such an enormous waste.

The ‘something’ that has happened to them is often that they have been broken by the workplace due to one or many of the reasons outlined in this book.

There is much more we can do to retain, engage, support, mentor, sponsor and nurture diverse groups of humans in our workplaces. Every one of us can make a change, and collectively we can make a monumental difference. Our nation is built on a rich tapestry of diversity and stories of courage, resilience and determination. Success lies in sharing our stories, learning from them, creating a solid foundation of diversity, embracing inclusiveness in every way, harnessing the strengths we each bring and respecting one another and our unique gifts. Success lies in ensuring humans are safe at work.

Creating safe workplaces

After more than 20 years’ practice as an employment lawyer, the thing that fascinates me the most is how it encompasses all that is good and not so good about humans. The highs and lows humans experience in their lives. The fragility and fallibility of the human condition. The consequences of poor choices and lapses in judgement. It all manifests in the workplace and lands on the desks of leaders around the world and, in turn, with us as employment lawyers.

What I remain curious about is the human condition, and why people do the things they do. Is it nature or is it nurture? Are there human traits that lead to dysfunction or does dysfunction arise from the environments we put people in? To what extent can leaders and people and culture/human resources (HR) professionals shape behavioural and transformational change in workplaces?

I never take for granted the privilege to help leaders navigate these matters. It means so much to help them overcome these challenges and use my knowledge, experience, insights and learnings to build safe, inclusive and respectful workplaces. This has become my purpose and now, the purpose of this book.

As I look behind the curtain as a trusted adviser to countless leaders in workplaces large and small, I have developed deep insights into what keeps you up at night as a leader or HR professional.

I know you are concerned about legal risks.

I know you are overwhelmed by the regulatory and compliance burden.

I know you do not want to end up in court.

I know you fear damage to your reputation and that of your organisation.

I know you are under pressure to ensure productivity and financial sustainability.

I know you worry about the health, safety and wellbeing of humans in your workplace.

I know you want your workplace to be safe, healthy and inclusive for humans at work.

I know you struggle to reconcile all the above.

I know that sometimes the above is irreconcilable.

I know you may, from time to time, struggle with the psychosocial hazard the burden of all of this creates for you personally.

In my work I try to provide not only legal advice but commercial, practical and compassionate advice to support leaders with all I have mentioned here. I wrote this book to help leaders and HR professionals address what often feels like overwhelming, conflicting and irreconcilable obligations.

Why I wrote this book

I believe our experiences shape who we are as leaders and humans. My life has undoubtedly driven my purpose to build diverse, healthy and inclusive workplaces and to share all I have learnt along the way, including by writing this book.

My story is of a girl who was born in Australia shortly after her parents, Greek Cypriot refugees, migrated here. It’s the story of a girl who grew up in western Sydney and lives with chronic autoimmune disease. It’s the story of a girl who had a dream and let nobody stand in the way of realising it. It’s the story of a girl turned mother who wants to create a legacy for her teenage boys, to make workplaces safer and more inclusive for them and their generation.

My parents instilled in me at an early age that compassion and respect for and from others is life’s most valuable asset. But I also learnt what it means to be resilient. I learnt that when times get tough you need to survive. I observed what it meant to be a superwoman working mother doing it all. I felt the energy and determination my father poured into the family business and the strong enduring connections he built. My parents may not have had the money for private education or time for weekend sport, but they instilled in us a strong work ethic, resilience, values and grit.

I was a sickly child. Having had multiple operations and seen countless specialists, I finally collapsed at age 13 and was taken to hospital. I was misdiagnosed with pleurisy before a local GP diagnosed Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. My thyroid had completely stopped working.

I was nevertheless an enthusiastic and ambitious young woman. I gave 110 per cent to every exam, assignment and task like it was do or die. Everything mattered. I studied career guides from the first year of high school. I planned my courses, my career trajectory, my work options … my life. I was so determined to achieve, to be the best I could be. Always.

Despite my school careers counsellor warning me that few girls from public schools in western Sydney become lawyers, I planned a very specific path to study Human Resource Management and Law as the first in my extended family to obtain a tertiary education. I went on to work in private practice, where I worked on matters for some of the most impressive employers in our country (including a secondment to Nine during Kerry Packer’s reign). I was married by 22 and, by 28, when we had saved enough for me to take six months of unpaid parental leave, our first child was born.

When our son was five months, I was due to return