Bullying at Work
Bullying in the workplace is a problem that many employers will come across. If bullying is handled badly, or goes unchecked, there can be serious problems for an organisation. However, behaviour that is considered bullying by one person, maybe be considered as firm management by another. There are many definitions of bullying. It can be said that bullying is offensive, intimidating or insulting behaviour towards an individual. There are many actions that both employers and employees can take when bullying takes place at work.
As mentioned above, peoples views on what constitutes bullying can differ. Therefore, it is essential for the employers to give training to employees;
…show more content…
Bullying, a lot of the time, is based on the grounds of sex, race, sexual orientation, disability and religious beliefs. Over the years, laws and acts have come into place to ensure that recipients of bullying can take legal action. Because employers are the ones responsible for preventing bullying, it is in their best interests to make sure that everything possible is done to eradicate any bullying from the workplace. After all it will be the employers who eventually lose out if a complaint is made to an employment tribunal. Not only may they have to pay legal costs and compensation, but their reputation could be ruined and may also have the problem of potential loss of staff. They may also find it harder to find replacement employees. Examples of the acts covering discrimination are:
· Sex Discrimination Act - protects employees from discrimination on the grounds of sex, marriage and gender reassignment
· Race Relations Act 1976 - protects employees from discrimination on the grounds of colour,
* Bullying and harassment – sets out how it is dealt with for the staff being bullied or bullying others
Bullying and harassment within the workplace can be attributed to a myriad of factors. The work
Bullying is prohibited in any workplace and as a bullying we understand for example, undermining, targeting, manipulating, social isolation, verbal or physical bulling, addressed personally or through different devices etc. to any individual in their workplace. There are strict duties for an employer’s under section 8 of the Act to prevent any inappropriate behavior and risk and to make sure that employees are not affected by their work for example by putting in place anti-bulling policy. Health and Safety Authority (has.ie 2015) are publishing information guidance, booklets and provide advice for both employees and employers in relation to preventing bullying behaviors in the
Workplace bullying is a big issue. It will create a lot of negative impact to the staffs and customers. The examples of workplace bullying can be sexual harassment, degrading someone, conducting the unethical behaviors and applying unprofessional conducts to the staffs and customers. The consequences caused by the workplace bullying can be as the following:
Cleary, M., Hunt, G. E., Walter, G., & Robertson, M. (2009). Dealing with bullying in the workplace. Journal of psychosocial nursing and mental health services, 47(12), 34-41. doi:10.3928/02793695-20091103-03
Even worse for those affected by bullying is social isolation. Nobody talks to you, nobody will warn you if the boss comes around to check whether the employees do their work correctly and if you enter a crowded room a terrible silence cuts all conversations immediately. A colleague of yours may constantly defame you among all colleagues and spread (untrue) gossip about your private life in the company. You did not know that your children are gay and your partner has several love affairs? Now you know.
As described on my work setting Policy for Anty-Bullying, bullying is a “behaviour which is repeated, deliberated and intended to hurt, threaten or frighten another person or group of people; it is usually unprovoked and always reflects an imbalance of power”.
This paper compares three studies on workplace bullying. The studies were conducted because workplace bullying is an epidemic that needs to be addressed and it needs to be understood to help future organizations prevent workplace bullying.
Companies may not have initiated an anti-bullying policy, since not every workplace experience bullying; not to mention, the misunderstanding of what is considered as bullying. According to Porteous (2002), “organizations without codes of conduct or policies of behavior may encourage bullying by omission;” however, the various forms of intimidation is difficult to define as bullying (Gumbus, 2011, p. 373). By the way, culture does play an important role in the interpretation of bullying.
Workplace bullying is a widespread issue in which people need to be educated on in order to put an end to it. Its causes are complex and multi-faceted and yet preventable. Workplace bullying puts unnecessary strain on the employees It is the employer and organizations responsibility to provide a bully free environment for their employees. Employees should have the right to feel safe in their work environment and be free from workplace bullying. Employers need to be held accountable and have a plan in place to protect the employees from this type of violence. Unfortunately that is not always the case, in some instances the employer is the one doing the bullying. Workplace bullying carries many definitions in which will be
“Bullying is one form of violence that seems to have increased in recent years,
Bullying in the workplace is the topic that Heeman has addressed and evaluated with the aid of research from additional authors. Communication plays a major role in bullying when brought into the workplace and it can continue for extensive lengths of time if not managed and handled properly. The roles of bullying are included in Heeman’s report which are the bully, the target, and the bystander. The costs on the workplace can be threatening to the staffing, productivity and the overall work environment. Percentages and research are presented proving the amount of bullying that actually takes place in the workplace. Ways to combat the bullying are introduced into the report to include understanding and taking action to stop and prevent the bullying from continuing. Heeman concludes his report by mentioning that researchers need to focus their attention on finding solutions and ways to intercept bullying to lower the statistics and ratios.
WORKPLACE BULLY Bullying is repeated irrational behaviour that could reasonably be known to be humiliating, intimidating, terrifying or belittling to a person, or group of persons, which creates a risk to health and safety. Repeated refers to the ongoing nature of the behaviour and can refer to a range of different types of behaviour over time, It does not refer to the specific type of behaviour, which may vary. Bullying may comprise a blend of behaviours. Bullying and harassment at work may be defined as repeated behavior, actions and practices directed at one or more workers, which may be carried out intentionally or unconsciously, but which are unwanted targets causing humiliation, offence, and anguish, and which may interfere with job performance and causing an unpleasant working environment.
The scope and depth of the concept is vast. In addition to workplace bullying, there is school bullying, physical bullying, cyberbullying, sexual bullying, verbal bullying, and family bullying. The concept of bullying can be seen in many situations, but the use of workplace bullying is very specific to a place of employment. Furthermore, workplace bullying in nursing is seen in hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, and other medical facilities where nursing staff may be employed. On a broader level, workplace bullying impacts healthcare professionals in general wherever they may be employed. Workplace bullying outside of healthcare and nursing is also evident, especially in fields such as business and
Bullying which is the intentional act to inflict harm, threaten or abuse of others, can range in many ways. Kathryn Hawkins on the article the Office Bully, outlines various issues of this concept. Kathryn states that sometimes people become overconfidence that they left bullies in their past lives maybe high school, but later found out the bullies have ultimately become their bosses. Secondly, bullying may occur when bullies wants to dominate and gain back their powers if they feel endangered. So they tend to overcome their fear by threatening others. Also Kathryn articulates that even the conditions of the workplace can cause bullies to abuse their targets and workplace bully can be difficult to deal with. Although Kathryn has suggested some solutions about these issues, the claim presented does not put up with the issues, rather an encouragement.