Women come forward to back claims of PCYC toxic culture

Multiple women with years of experience working at Police Citizens Youth Club Queensland have shared their own stories of an allegedly toxic workplace.

The PCYC has been hit with claims of toxic workplace culture. File picture

Multiple women with years of experience working at Police Citizens Youth Club Queensland have come forward to vent their anger at the way they allege they were treated by the organisation.

The women, some of whom worked for PCYC for almost 20 years, say they are providing statements to lawyers for an independent investigation into allegations of bullying, harassment and a toxic workplace culture within the organisation which received $50m in taxpayer funds in last week’s state budget.

The PCYC has strongly rejected the allegations, saying it was dealing with a small number of issues and claims of a widespread toxic culture were nonsense.

One woman who was sacked earlier this year has filed an unfair dismissal complaint with the Fair Work Commission, alleging she was targeted by a female superior, “picked on, attacked and mistreated” and then terminated on trivial allegations after an unblemished 17-year career with PCYC.

Two other ex-employees allege they were denied promotions after the same female boss told one of them “I don’t like you” and the other woman that her young child was always sick.

A long-serving former PCYC senior manager said she was offered a job as a cleaner by the same superior and made redundant.

Another veteran former employee has an age discrimination complaint against PCYC in the Queensland Human Rights Commission.

The Courier-Mail revealed last week that an external investigator had been appointed by PCYC Queensland to probe allegations of bullying and harassment.

A large number of current and former staff, including serving and retired police, have united to voice their concerns amid claims the PCYC appears more focused on making money and cutting costs than helping troubled youth.

The PCYC has been accused of neglecting its charter to help troubled youth.

One former staffer who left PCYC last year after almost two decades said she had detailed her allegations about a toxic culture in a scathing exit letter but her concerns had been ignored.

She said the staff turnover was “off the Richter” scale as employees were pressured to work overtime without pay or time off in lieu, and youth programs and activities had been terminated

“It’s just really sad that something that was such a fantastic organisation and did so much for the community and for the youth has just gone downhill,” the woman said.

“The turnover of staff was unbelievable – it was mind-blowing.

“People would stay a couple of months and go.

“We could just not understand how someone could not see there was an issue, why all these people were leaving.

“There was an expectation in my role that if you were employed to work 40 hours, you worked more than 40 hours without pay.

“It just got too much in the end and I had to go for my own health. I just had to go. I couldn’t cope at the end.”

The woman said there was no independent employee complaints process in place and, after one workplace incident, she was told that “I was the problem”.

“I don’t care what they say – PCYC has lost its focus and they don’t want to listen,” she said.

“I used to really believe in what they were doing. It was helping the youth and engaging in the community at club level.

“Now, they’re not listening to what the community wants.

“There are no youth management teams in the clubs now, so what does the “Y” in PCYC stand for?

“Activities that might not have made a truckload of money, but brought kids and families through the door, have been closed down.

“They really push the gym memberships, but there’s a gym on every other corner.”

Another former PCYC staffer who resigned in 2021 also wrote a scathing resignation letter in which she told how the thought of going to work made her “physically ill” and she was “constantly crying or angry (and) lying awake at night” after allegedly being bullied and overworked.

“PCYC used to be a fantastic organisation to work for – workers got along and cared for one another, members were friends – we were a community,” she wrote.

“But things have changed within PCYC over the last few years and particularly since Covid.

“There is also no longer a sense of community – everything seems to be about making money.”

In a statement, a PCYC spokeswoman said claims of broad cultural problems within the organisation “seem to be coming from a very small number of people with specific axes to grind”.

“We are dealing with a small number of issues raised by one current staff member and two former staff in a complex organisation of almost 2000 staff operating across 56 clubs,” she said.

“There is zero evidence of a widespread toxic culture in the organisation.

“In fact, such claims are nonsense and not supported by any available evidence.

“We have a highly engaged, dedicated and passionate workforce who work day-in and day-out to improve the lives of young Queenslanders and deal head-on with some of the root causes of youth crime.

“Our people are deeply proud of the work they do in supporting around 100,000 members across the state, particularly vulnerable and at-risk young people.

“Claims to the contrary are unfair and dragging down the great work the PCYC staff, supporters and dedicated police have been doing for Queensland’s youth for 75 years.”

The spokeswoman said staff were the PCYC’s highest priority, complaints were taken very seriously and “we do not tolerate bullying in any form”.

She said youth crime prevention program attendances had increased to more than 383,000 this year and PCYC was working with police on back-to-basics strategies.

PCYC also provided more than 90 free and paid sport and recreation activities to the community, she said, and denied staff were pressured to sell gym memberships.