School bullies graduate to the workplace

Workplace bullying is a health and safety issue.

"Solving the problem of bullying," said Jody Carr, New Brunswick Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development, "requires a multi-faceted solution where everyone works together." Carr was announcing legislative and policy changes to deal with bullying in the school system.

True enough, but what about the rest of the world? While talking about bullying in schools is all the rage these days — stories of its victims have made news headlines recently — the problem of bullying doesn't stop once school is out and kids graduate.

What happens to bullies after graduation? Where do they go?

 

You know and I know that the problem of bullying simply does not disappear. Bullies can be found all throughout our society and our workplaces. Too often, people choose to ignore the problem or fail to recognize it for what it is. We sometimes hear it described as a personality conflict or someone who simply cannot take a joke or is just too sensitive.

Workplace bullying (also known as psychological harassment) has many faces. How can we recognize it? According to a report prepared by the Advisory Council on the Status of Women (ACSW) in 2007 — for the Review Panel on Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation System — workplace bullying can take various forms:

• insulting remarks or spreading rumors about a person's appearance, habits, ideas or their private life;
• harsh and constant criticism of work from others, withholding information and resources needed to do job, removing responsibilities or setting impossible deadlines as punishment;
• use of the silent treatment to isolate the target and encourage others to turn against the victim;
• co-workers ganging up to torment a fellow employee — a practice sometimes called "mobbing" — and eventually forcing the victim to leave their job.

When you think about it, workplace bullying looks very similar to schoolyard bullying. Except perhaps, it's more common. The World Health Organization has described job-related stress as a world-wide epidemic. In the year 2000, a Canadian poll of labour unions found that more than 75 percent of respondents witnessed incidents of workplace harassment and bullying at work.

Over 75 percent? That's huge.

The Canadian Safety Council, in turn, found that bullying is four times more common than sexual harassment or discrimination in the workplace. The Canadian Safety Council also reported that 75 percent of its victims leave their jobs as a result of the bullying.

Although workplace bullying is now recognized as a problem, there is little recourse available to its victims. Hence they feel like they have to endure the financial hardship of leaving their job for it to stop. Or as participants (all victims of bullying) in workshops organized on the subject by the ACSW said in 2007:

• "I was told that if I filed a complaint, I would be fired for insubordination."
• "I went to management to complain about the verbal abuse I was taking from co-workers. The manager told me that I have a bad attitude."
• "I'll never stand up to a bully again. The cost (to me and my family) was too great. Next time I'll just keep my mouth shut."

Research backs these anecdotal stories. A survey done in 2010 by the Worplace Bullying Institute of the United States found that only 1.6 percent of bullies lost their job for any reason while 43.5 percent of victims of workplace bullying were no longer employed (with 31.3 percent losing their jobs as a result of layoff, termination or by quitting and an additional 12.3 percent on psychological leave from their job).

Bullies can be found in all types of workplaces. Nobody is immune. Bullying is found in the public, non-profit and private sectors.

Some provincial governments are choosing to do something about the serious problem of workplace harassment and bullying. For example, in 2004, Quebec became the first province to adopt legislation to protect workers from bullying. In 2007, the province of Saskatchewan decided to take a similar route, banning bullying through itsOccupational, Health and Safety Act.

In June 2010, the province of Ontario adopted changes to its Occupational Health and Safety Act to strengthen protections against workplace harassment. Workplace harassment was defined as: "A course of vexatious comment or conduct against a worker in a workplace that is known or ought to be reasonably to be known to be unwelcome."

The New Brunswick Advisory Council on the Status of Women, before it was disbanded by the provincial government, called on the New Brunswick government to take a similar route. Other organizations that represent New Brunswick workers are also calling on the government to do the same.

Workplace bullying is a health and safety issue. Employers do not need to wait for provincial legislation to take effect. They can be pro-active and develop their own anti-bullying policies to protect their workers. Some employers have already done so. These workplaces recognize the loss in productivity that results when bullying occurs.

© Copyright 2012 Jody Dallaire, All rights Reserved. Written For: StraightGoods.ca