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 Real Workplace Issues |
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Welcome to the latest
installment
of "Real Workplace Issues," a newsletter
dedicated to
providing our clients and friends with practical,
everyday employment law and HR
information.
In September 2007, the research firm Zogby
International (on behalf of the Workplace Bullying
Institute) conducted the largest national scientific
survey of workplace bullying in the United States to
date. The survey revealed that 37% of American
workers, an estimated 54 million people, have been
bullied at work. A staggering number to say the least,
but what does this mean? And why should employers
be concerned? In a
recent article published in the McKinsey Quarterly (May
2007, Number 2) entitled Building the Civilized
Workplace, one company took the time to calculate
the “extra costs generated by a star salesperson – the
assistants he burned through, the overtime costs, the
legal costs, his anger-management training, and so
on…” The company determined that this one
employee’s bullying ways cost it an additional
$160,000.00 per year. While this calculation was
humorously labeled the TCJ method (“the total cost of
jerks”), it is clear that the costs associated with
workplace bullying are anything but a laughing matter.
This installment of Real Workplace Issues will
examine the
growing problem of bullying in the workplace,
beginning with a description of what constitutes
workplace bullying, an analysis of the current legal
consequences and legislative trends, a review of the
harmful effects bullying has on both employees and
employers, and a list of tips designed to assist
employers in ridding their businesses of bullying.
"Bullying" is a term used to
describe the repeated, unreasonable actions of an
individual (or a group), directed at an employee (or
employees), which do not rise to the level of illegal
harassment or discrimination based on a protected
category (i.e., age, disability, national origin,
pregnancy, race, religion, or sex). Workplace bullying often involves the
abuse of power. The 2007 Zogby International survey
concluded that 72% of workplace bullies are "bosses"
(i.e., the harasser is "ranked" higher than the person
being harassed in the "corporate ladder.") Oftentimes,
such cases involve a manager/supervisor who
intimidates, degrades, offends, or humiliates a
subordinate, frequently in front of other employees.
Workplace bullying can be so
engrained in an organization that it becomes accepted
as a part of the corporate culture. This concept is often
referred to as "corporate/institutional bullying." An
organization can bully employees by placing
unreasonable expectations on them and
punishing those who either oppose these
expectations or fail to meet them. Other examples of workplace bullying
include, but are not limited, to:
Technically speaking - no, or at
least, not yet. There has been a recent increase in the
introduction of state anti-bullying legislation (often
referred to as "healthy workplace"
legislation). Such
legislation has been introduced in 13 states, including
California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Kansas,
Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, New York, New
Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.
This proposed legislation would allow employees to
sue their employers for bullying or offensive behavior,
even when such behavior fails to rise to the level of
illegal harassment or discrimination.
The language of the majority of
these proposed laws is similar to that of New Jersey's
pending Healthy Workplace Act, which defines
abusive conduct as, "repeated infliction of verbal
abuse such as the use of derogatory remarks, insults
and epithets; verbal or physical conduct that a
reasonable person would find threatening,
intimidating or humiliating; or the gratuitous sabotage
or undermining of a person's work
performance." In
addition, although there is currently no specific federal
or state anti-bullying legislation in effect in the United
States, employers may still be found liable under a
cause of action for "intentional infliction of emotional
distress."
Workplace bullying can cause
employees high levels of distress, anxiety, panic
attacks, depression, ill health, insomnia, reduced
work performance, deteriorating relationships with
family and friends, and a loss of self-esteem.
These negative effects, in turn, harm
employers in the following ways:
The following are steps that
employers can take to help reduce workplace bullying
and the harm that results:
Bullying is prevalent in the modern
workplace, and the costs are high. Even without a
specific law in place prohibiting workplace bullying,
the "star salesperson" mentioned in the introduction
of this issue cost his employer an additional $160,000
per year. And with the legal landscape changing, the
toll for employers who tolerate workplace bullying
is sure to rise should states begin passing the
proposed "healthy workplace"
legislation. Employers should address these
concerns as soon as possible by maintaining a
corporate culture that is respectful of its employees
and free of bullying behavior. Your employees (and
your wallet) will thank you.
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