A recent article in the Hartford Courant, April 22, 2008 examines workplace bullying as abuse and compares the way people treat workplace violence vs. bullying. Workplace violence is a serious problem. I have a colleague whose brother was punched at work. He did nothing because he didn’t want to lose his job, but he had recourse. That’s a physical assault, and most workplaces have policies about it and there are state laws about assault and battery. But what if an employer throws an object towards you and it misses (on purpose?) but scares you and intimidates you, and is part of a repeated behavior of yelling, belittling, humiliating, etc. that is making you sick? There are no laws that prevent that.
Check out the article. Bullying affects men and women; it is done by men and women. And HRs want to put people together in a room and have them talk it over. I would not allow a violent spousal abuser to be placed in a room with his target. Why would HR allow a workplace bully to do that? In my case, the bully was actually the state alternative dispute resolution head. That makes me feel so secure!
We need a law, fair and balanced. It shouldn’t be a law where disgruntled employees can put a company out of business. It should be a law where abused employees can sue the bully, but only if they can prove the bully did it with malice and harmed their health. You have to have this high bar so bullies don’t sue targets. There has to be medical proof involved.
For those of us who want a law it’s not about the money. We want to be able to do our jobs well and enjoy our work. Americans work very hard as a nation. Collectively we work harder than almost anyone else, but workplace bullying is on the rise. Maybe this is because people are stressed over the economy, but I think it is just that management practices often don’t vet the people they are putting in charge of others. A productive person in the office may not be a good manager and may not be a person able to motivate by inspiration rather than fear.
