Workplaces should not break employees

Workers' right to dignity is enshrined in South African law

- PREVIN VEDAN

AS WE recently commemorated Mental Health Awareness Month in October, I want to speak not only as a lawyer, but as a South African, who has sat across from too many broken souls, who once walked into workplaces with hope and left with humiliation.

They do not arrive in my office talking about depression or anxiety. They come talking about their boss. About “the treatment.” About how every morning feels heavier than the last.

Workplace stress is not just about tight deadlines or long hours. It is about the slow corrosion of dignity. It is about being shouted at in front of others, about your work being undervalued, your potential being dismissed, your humanity being reduced to a number on a spreadsheet. It is about power and what happens when power forgets that it too is accountable.

Across the world, workplace stress has become one of the leading causes of poor mental health. The World Health Organization reports that over 12 billion working days are lost annually to depression and anxiety a loss worth US$1 trillion globally in productivity.

In South Africa, the numbers are less precisely measured, but the pain is not. Our offices, construction sites, call centres, and municipal corridors are filled with people who have learned to cry in silence. People who are too afraid to speak because the next paycheck depends on their silence.

Bullying in the workplace is not just a personality issue, it is a legal one. It violates the Constitution's promise of dignity, the Employment Equity Act's protection against harassment, and the Labour Relations Act’s (LRA) guarantee of fair treatment. Yet for many, these rights remain distant, abstract words printed in the back of an HR file.

It is time to bring them to life.

The Constitution of South Africa is clear: every person has the right to dignity, equality and security of the person. These are not poetic ideals, they are enforceable rights.