Bullies at Work

It used to be bullies were the kids you avoided on the playground who might shake you down for your lunch money.

But bullying has grabbed headlines of late as it has taken to cyberspace with tragic results. And bullying is not just the purview of kids at school. It's made its way into the workplace.

"Workplace Bullying: Is it HR's Responsibility to Control?" This seemingly simple question posted on the LinkedIn Group page for the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) prompted 742 comments. The discussion has lasted 11 months and included human resource professionals, CEOs, attorneys and therapists all struggling to define bullying and how to respond. This led one participant to conclude that bullying is indeed the "new" workplace problem.

Defining Bullying

Experts agree that bullying behavior is repetitive and provokes a strong reaction in the intended victim. It does not need to be overt, loud or physically threatening. In fact, some of the most offensive bullying can be insidious and known only to the bully and the victim.

Identify the Bully

The behavior may be as obvious as yelling and swearing. Others engage in childish pranks, such as hiding personal possessions, gluing lockers shut or defacing property.

Some engage in less obvious methods of harassment: giving false or misleading information about other employees or subordinates, scapegoating, abusing authority by threatening to or giving poor or undeserved evaluations, stealing credit, giving arbitrary instructions and threatening untoward consequences for failing to comply with directives.

Often the target of the bully is afraid to report such actions for fear that the bullying will get worse; the bully will see their threats through; no one will believe them; or the company won't take action, leaving them even more vulnerable. Sometimes the target leaves the company without ever disclosing to management what has occurred.

Respond

Typically the best source of information that an employee is being bullied is a co-worker who has witnessed the behavior or been the confidante of the target. When management learns of or witnesses bullying behavior, an immediate response is critical. The costs to a company that tolerates bullying can be significant: low morale, absenteeism, high turnover, difficulty recruiting and retaining talented staff, or litigation.

Companies should be proactive and include a discussion about harassment, bullying and inappropriate behavior in all workplace trainings. Policies should prohibit all harassment. Bullying should be defined and addressed, and employees should be encouraged to come forward if they believe they have been a victim or if they have knowledge of such behavior. Although NH does not currently have specific anti-bullying legislation applicable to the workplace, an employer can still get into legal trouble by ignoring the signs. If the bullying even appears to target a particular race or gender, parents with care-giving responsibilities, disabled individuals or anyone similarly protected by anti-discrimination laws, it could result in legal action. Employees may bring claims of negligent or intentional infliction of emotional distress or defamation. Overt physical actions could lead to claims of false imprisonment or assault and battery. It is common for employees who seek mental health counseling as a result of workplace behavior to lose time from work, take disability leave or even file worker's compensation claims.

Perhaps one of the many LinkedIn commentators said it best, "Workplace bullying is a shared responsibility between HR and management. Bullying is not a stand-alone behavior. This act can be coupled with harassment, and possibly lead to violence in the workplace. It is HR's responsibility to make sure specific and well-defined policies, guidelines, training and disciplinary actions are in place to address this behavior, when it is reported. ... Supervisors and managers need also be trained on how to address the issue."


Charla Bizios Stevens is a director and shareholder in the Employment Law Practice Group at McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton, P.A. based in Manchester. She can be reached at 603-628-1363 or charla.stevens @ mclane.com.