Bullying in the Workplace - Rights, and Responsibilities of the Employer - Literature review Example

RUNNING HEAD: BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE Bullying in the Workplace Name Institution Date Introduction Bullying is undoubtedly one of the most common scenarios in any workplace, as highlighted by Tehrani (2012). For ages employees have suffered intimidation, torture and even threats from employers, supervisors as well as fellow employees. In most cases this has had a profound effect of lowering employee morale and performance, worsened by the aftermaths of interfering with employees’ passion and dedication towards assigned tasks. According to Sara et al (2012), a third of employees in most workplaces often experience bullying while twenty percent of them experience severe harassment. Since bullying is a real threat in a majority of workplaces, this paper addresses the aspect of workplace bullying, highlighting its profound effects and indicating the implications involved. In this particular paper, bullying is viewed from an organizational perspective and a concise overview of the existing literature that relates to this issue is undertaken. The paper first discusses what qualifies to be workplace bullying and indicates the extent of this problem as professional as well as academic literature reveal. Bullying in the workplace According to Susan et al (2009), the concept of bullying in workplaces is increasingly gaining attention globally. According to Burke & Cooper (2010), various definitions of workplace bullying exist. Despite this, Burke & Cooper (2010) argue that all these definitions seem to converge. Despite being sometimes termed as emotional abuse, mobbing, or even workplace harassment, Burke & Cooper (2010) argue for a common definition. According to Burke & Cooper’s definition, bullying at a workplace means either harassing , negatively affecting someone’s work, socially excluding or offending someone. Burke & Cooper (2010) further highlight how bullying is basically an escalating process whereby a confronted individual remains in an inferior position thereby being a target of various negative social actions. Cleary et al (2009) highlight clearly the seriousness of this problem in most modern workplaces. In fact, clearly et al (2009) point out how recent reports have indicated the absence of mutual respect in the modern workplace culture. Cleary et al (2009) further state that this exists despite every individual having rights to fair workplace that is also full of respect and dignity. Cleary et al (2009) finally argue that working collegially is quite challenging when the working environment contains employees having unprofessional and disruptive behaviours that eventually involve abusive behaviours. According to Spence et al (2010), the abusive behavior is usually in the form of humiliation, verbal abuse, threats, intimidation or work sabotage that consequently prevent harmonious working. In the case study scenario, the third year student who was placed in the emergency department experienced workplace bullying. The student was abused verbally by the preceptor when the preceptor asked the student how the student would handle the patient who had leukemia. With a disappointing response from the student, the preceptor was not pleased and in the end referred to the student as a walking broom. The preceptor even went to the extent of telling the student to serve the parents of the second patient tea instead of attending to them as a doctor. In this scenario, the bully, who is the preceptor, exceeded the limits, especially considering the fact that the preceptor asked for the student’s opinion regarding the issue only to brush it aside and gives him a different role from what is expected of him. This sounds similar to what Susan et al (2009) argued. According to the research study by Susan et al (2009), about 27.3% of employees experience workplace bullying , with majority of the victims being bullied by managers, directors or people in charge of them. Similarly, the student experiences another form of work bullying when his preceptor talks to him in an aggressive and rude manner regardless of the people around and pushes him away stating that he would handle the case with other collogues. Some form of intimidation and work sabotage is experienced here, and this is quite humiliating. The student was actually performing the task since cubical one to four was allocated to the student and the preceptor. Susan et al (2009) argue that bullying in the workplace is significantly associated with the intent to quite such a job or workplace. Thus, it was not wise for him to be shouted at in the aggressive manner indicated, and worse still allocating the student’s task to another party. The preceptor was actually to allow the student to handle the task and incase of doubts with the student’s ability, the preceptor had the obligation to attend to the patient while demonstrating to the student the appropriate way of handling the particular case, as suggested by Bartlett II (2011). Possible effects of bullying According to Ortega et al (2011), workplace bullying has serious consequences other than just embarrassment and psychological effects associated with long term bullying. According to Baillien& Witte (2009), one of the serious effects is that the people being bullied feel threatened and are not sure they will retain their job. According to the research findings by Baillien& Witte (2009), there is also a strong link between role conflict and job insecurity. When the preceptor shouts at the student asking what he had done while attending to the patient, the student gets frustrated. This may have easily let to the student thinking that he did not attend well to the patient, hence not fit for the task. Similarly, another significant effect of such an act , as highlighted by Burke & Cooper (2010), is that that the emotions of the victim are damaged. There are instances when the preceptor did not communicate well to the student, and instances where he shouts at the student and aggressively addresses him/her. Similarly, the preceptor did not give the student a chance to talk, explain or express himself. Stress-related illness is similarly argued by Johnson et al (2009) as among the significant effects of bullying in workplaces. While such illnesses are wide ranging, the include stress have potentials of leading to further complications including and not limited to high blood pressure, ulcers , irritable bowel syndrome, and other long term effects. In the case study scenario, for instance, the student called the Nursing Unit Manager and reported that he won’t be able to come to work on the fourth day because he was sick. The pressure experienced in the three days of duty was stressful enough to make him sick. According to Ertel et al. (2010), the mind of the person being bullied may cause experiences of post hurtful stress disorder, panics, stress breakdown, depression, insecurity, lack of concentration and a mind that is mostly compromised. In the end, such victims may become so sensitive and very obsessive. They may similarly experience bad tempers and rely on drug substances to boost their self esteem. As Highlighted by Nielsen et al. (2010), Physical effects are also wide. According to Nielsen et al. (2010), workplace stress is mainly caused by bullying which later on causes chronic fatigue. It causes anxiety, stress and a reduced resistance to diseases such as colds, coughs and fever. Other syndromes include headaches, pain in the back and chest, disturbances in the hormone, physical numbness, typhoid, skin irritation and ulcers. The University of Helsinki similarly did its study on medical research and established a connection between workplace bullying and cardiac diseases. According to Deery at al (2011), employers in a company are also affected by workplace bullying liabilities. Such effects include the liabilities that the employer has to incur based on the events that took place in the company. In the event of an employee suffering injuries due to some form of bullying in the company, the employee has to be compensated because of the rules in place. In the case study, incase the student suffered any injuries, the hospital could be sued in order to cater for the costs associated with the injuries. In such a scenario, the company will be will be responsible for meeting such responsibilities, implying that the employer will have to incur the accumulated cost. Next actions that may follow bullying and be a burden to the employer are the actions for negligence, otherwise termed as intentional infliction of psychological distress. An employer might be charged for negligence based on the fact that the employer assumed that the employees were working in an environment that was conducive yet they were actually working in an environment full of stress galore. Actually, an instance of neglect in the case study is when the employer is aware of the circumstances that are taking place in the company but does not take any actions. In case of injuries or death, the expenses will have to be incurred by the employer. The team leader saw the preceptor make insulting jokes at the student and did not take any step against this. The team leader’s responsibility was to ask the student if there was any problem and address any problems or complains raised. Instead he assumed that it was just a normal joke and went away. Bullying may as well lead to defamatory actions in an institution. This is when an individual releases some information to the public about a certain person or place therefore causing damages to the reputation. In the case study the student had the choice of taking defamation actions against the hospital by publicly confessing what he/she had to go through during the initial days in the company. Sometimes an organization may end up paying the victims to remain silent on the issue since defamation may severely damage such an institution’s name. This may consequently lead to loss of clients and investors who avoid organizations with bad reputation. Other costs that the company would incur as a result of bullying in the workplace include unsafe working environments, decrease in the level of efficiency, poor employee morale, increased compensation claims from workers, civil actions, and also an increase in the level of absenteeism. They company may also face a higher turnover which may become costly for the company since the concentration will be on hiring employees who they loose shortly afterward to their competitors. According to Tehrani (2012), Workplace bullying does not only have effects on both employer and employee since the productivity of the workplace is at stake here, hence affecting the health of the entire organization. Actually, Instead of spending time on their duty, most of the bullied workers do spend their time in gaining support and defending themselves from the bully. Almost 20% of employees who experience bullying look for alternative jobs while almost all are stressed by it. Other effects in the workforce include absenteeism at work, lower customer service, more accidents, large costs for employee assistance projects and a decrease in the morale and motivation of the employees (Spence et al, 2010). As argued by Srabstein et al (2009), this significantly affects the overall performance. Rights and responsibilities of the employer According to the employers act, the employer is charged with the duty-of-care towards his employees. The employer is to ensure that the employees are protected from injuries and risks that may in the end result in health problems. In this case, the employer is supposed to take measures that prevent incidents which are likely to tamper with the health of the employees or place the employer’s health at risk. They are obligated to implement steps that can minimize risk where risks can hardly be prevented. The employer also has a duty of investigating the complaints that relate to employees, address such issues and document them while taking the necessary action. As such, any employer who neglects the required steps against bullying in the workplace is charged with breach of contract as outlined by law and is liable to the applicable penalties (Margaret, 2011). According to the Northcott (2011), an employer has a duty to maintain an environment that is healthy and safe for his employees. They are also supposed to provide a system that gives employees an opportunity to report any kind of bullying that is taking place, whether to the supervisor appointed to investigate and attend to such issues or the person in charge. The employer is also supposed to advocate for a program for training the employees on the accepted code of conduct as well as policies relating to harassment in the workplace. Similarly, employers are to provide safer machineries and equipments to employees, carrying out health checks regularly and also ensure that there is some form of training for employees regarding the health and safety issues of the workplace. Another duty is to assess the activities done in the work place and determine how dangerous such may be to the staff. Finally, the employer is to provide the workforce with effective conditions. Rights and responsibilities of the employees According to the equal employment opportunity commission, an employee can seek remedy for bullying in the workplace regarding discrimination be it in the context of sex, religion, family or disability, as well as degrading remarks, physical abuse or even unequal distribution of work (Johnson et al, 2009). An employee has a responsibility to work in a manner that puts into consideration the safety of others. The employee is also to ensure that he/she receives the terms and conditions of the work, including working times, the duties, who they are accountable to, the rates they are to be paid and any other entitlement if available. According to equal opportunities legislation, and as highlighted by Bejan (2013), every employee is supposed to receive equal payments and conditions for carrying out work that are similar. There is similarly a minimum wage of what employees are to be paid. Such bill is usually revisited and expected to rise with time. For Instance, the European Union governs the working hours, which is an approximate of 48 hours in a week. Finally, employees are expected to work in a manner that is safe for themselves and their colleagues for the sake of a good working environment. Conclusion From the above discussion a number of conclusions can be drawn. Bullying in the workplace is a case that affects a majority of employees in the workplace. While it leads to poor performance, this is even worse in workplaces. As it creates a sense of fear among employee, it results in absenteeism, whereby the victim may also fear stepping out to exploit the best of his/her performance so as to come up with results that are extraordinary incredible. As highlighted, it also reduces the morale of the employees and leads to poor working relations between employers and employees or the employees themselves. Employers are similarly adversely affected by bullying in their workplaces, and as such have to be constantly aware of the events that are taking place in their work environment. They supposed to ensure that all their employees are provided with an environment that is conducive, failure to which results in issues such as bullying. As such, they may be held liable in case of any injuries. In summary, it is the responsibility of the employees to report to their supervisors or management if they are facing any form of harassment at their workplace. The employers on the other hand are to take action against bullies so as to discourage such events from occurring. References Bejan, F. (2013). “The European law regarding the impact of merger on employees' rights.” Romanian Journal of European Affairs, 13, 2, 28-38. Bartlett II, J. (2011). “Workplace Bullying: An Integrative Literature Review.” Journal of Advances in Developing Human Resources vol. 13 no. 1 69-84 Baillien, E. & Witte, H. (2009). “Why is Organizational Change Related to Workplace Bullying? Role Conflict and Job Insecurity as Mediators.” Economic and Industrial Democracy, vol. 30 no. 3 348-371 Burke,R.& Cooper, C.(2010). Risky Business: Psychological, Physical and Financial Costs of High Risk Behavior in Organizations. Gower Publishing, Ltd. Cleary, M. 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