Hand off: Respect is the Rule takes force in venues

Six months have passed since the disturbing results of a survey revealed that 89 percent of female hospitality workers had experienced sexual harassment, or assault, at work. Think about that figure. It's a near-perfect score, only one person in 10 reporting being free of molestation.

Thankfully the figure proved shocking enough to spur action and a silver lining has now emerged in the form of the "Respect is the Rule" campaign.

For the past six months, a team of 15 to 20 volunteers from the hospitality industry has been actively recruiting venues to sign a zero-tolerance pledge.

By signing, owners and managers commit to making their venues safe places to drink and work, by training their staff to be alert to and deal with harassment, whether it's towards or by customers and also within their own ranks. Almost 50 venues have joined so far, including the Old Bar and Kent St in Fitzroy, Bomba in Melbourne and Park Street in Carlton North.

Volunteer Jess Browning, a chef at Park Street, says just vocalising the problem has helped.

"We used to talk about things that had happened in small groups after work. Ultimately it was considered part of the job. That attitude is starting to change."

In practice, Browning says zero tolerance can still mean giving people a chance to change their behaviour. "Depending on the situation it can mean a warning at first. But if they don't stop, they're out. The main thing is workers and women drinking in the venues can know that they can trust it will be dealt with."

Places like the Old Bar have already been practicing zero tolerance for a long time, placing signs in the toilets telling women they could ask the bar staff for help if they were feeling uncomfortable, especially on Tinder dates.

But the Respect is the Rule campaign addresses the fact that hospitality workers, who often need their jobs, didn't feel their managers would take their side over paying customers, especially if the harassment "seemed too insignificant".

Yarra Council has just put its weight behind the campaign. While thus far volunteers have been approaching venues, providing posters, and offering resources for training their teams, they hope venues will come to them as momentum gathers.

Browning says she's caught between a place of enthusiasm and frustration. "It still infuriates me that people need a poster to be told to behave, but it's great that it's making people feel they have a voice."

Venues wanting to sign the pledge or find resources can go to respectistherule.org.au. The campaign is also seeking more volunteers.

Encouraged by the positive action resulting from the survey, Hospo Voice, the union group for the hospitality industry, is now calling for hospitality workers to tell stories of wage theft in another survey – cash-in-hand jobs, missing benefits, unpaid trial shifts, jobs paying less than the minimum wage. The survey can be accessed via po.st/wagetheft. A wage theft summit will be held on October 9 at Trades Hall, 54 Victoria Street, Carlton. Details: unitedvoice.org.au