Posted by marykeating on July 23, 2011 under Pending legislation, workplace bullying | 
An interesting article about bulling in the workplace reveals what you may already know: If you are being bullied, you are unlikely to be able to stop it, unless the bully leaves your workplace. The original research suggests that almost 2/3 of the people bullied will have to leave their jobs, whether for their own preservation, or involuntarily.
The Workplace Bullying Institute has prepared an excellent action plan, with the first goal to preserve the victim’s health and self-esteem.
If leaving the job is probably inevitable, then the employer should be made aware of the situation, and the employee should insist that it be fixed – all the while, of course, remembering that the employer is unlikely to get rid of the bully. The action plan reminds us that some employers may want to get rid of the bullies. The ones that don’t can’t be trusted to care about the welfare of their employees. And the employee who was targeted for bullying should make a public statement about the situation, leaving in disgust that it was allowed to continue.
The Workplace Bullying Institute is also responsible for the movement to introduce anti-bullying legislation at the state level. Maryland considered the law in March; I testified on its behalf. Although the law did not make it out of committee in Maryland’s General Assembly this year, we are hopeful it will be reintroduced and given a favorable report next session. See also my prior post.
Posted by marykeating on May 14, 2011 under Discrimination in employment, Employment at will, workplace bullying |
A study published by CareerBuilder reports that a large proportion of American workers have been bullied on the job. Most reported bullying by an immediate or higher up boss, while others cite coworkers and customers as the antagonizers. An interesting aspect of the survey breaks down the type of conduct included in bullying. Some were on a personal level, such as gossiping, yelling, and belittling the employee’s work in public. Others were tied more directly to the job, such as someone stealing credit for another’s work, forcing him or her to do jobs outside of the job description, wrongly accused of making mistakes, and holding the employee to different standards from the others. Women were more likely to have felt bullied than men, by a 34 to a 22 percent difference.
None of these behaviors can actually help the workplace, yet often nothing is done to root it out unless the target of the bullying can connect it to illegal discrimination. Human resources departments should have the power and the interest in preventing the recurrence of bullying, even if the bully must be fired. Victims of bullying often suffer mental and even physical illnesses, and take off time from work. When they are at work, their resentment or sense of futility at working hard can prevent the employer from getting their best work. Collaboration diminishes if an employee has his or her ideas stolen or ignored.
Even if Maryland eventually passes the anti-bullying legislation, only the most severely affected workers will have a right to take action. But the existence of the law may change how employers view erratic or mean-spirited behavior.
