Posted By Adrian Melia
Workplace bullying is much more than abusive or threatening behaviour by one person to another. Were it that simple, it would not receive the growing and much-needed level of attention that it does today.
Bullying is not on the increase, but awareness of it is. It is not something that bully-tolerant employers boast about, but something they try hard to conceal. As awareness (or "admission") of the widespread presence of bullying grows, so it becomes harder for such employers to conceal.
Concealment is done behind laudable masks such as ISO14001, good accident statistics and good PR in the form of noble statements, including anti bullying statements, in company literature and importantly, staff briefings and policy.
I would like to credit honourable organisations that achieve excellence through genuine effort and ethical behaviour. They set the example of how an organisation should appear, but in so doing, they give bullying employers a model to emulate. Bullying employers will go to great lengths to achieve and maintain that appearance, so as to blend in with honourable organisations. I draw a parallel with differences between genuine and fake Rolex watches.
It is entirely possible for an organisation to attain ISO14001 and yet have a bullying culture. It is possible for an organisation to adopt the ACAS guidelines on bullying and harassment, and yet tolerate bullying. When a bully is sufficiently highly placed in an organisation, (s)he can successfully bully staff into believing that (s)he is doing everything in their power to stamp out bullying.
In such an organisation one may find that an employee claims that they are bullied, only to have their claim dismissed without investigation, on the grounds that the anti-bullying policy has already dealt with the problem. Such denial is a sure sign of workplace bullying. If an employee simply *daren't* report it, then the chances are that they have been bullied into feeling that way. Compare how abused children are threatened into keeping everything secret. In this kind of case, it is very difficult to expose the problem, and nearly impossible through, for example, IIP audit interviews.
Every employer has to be seen to adhere strictly to H&S law. If an employee's health is at risk due to and obvious physical hazard, all the corrective or punitive actions are tangible and measurable.
Stress induced injuries are not yet covered by the "3 day rule", and so those off sick with stress are not officially recognised as having work related injuries, and the accident statistics are not affected. Thus it is very easy for an unscrupulous employer to appear to have a safe workplace.
Whereas it is easy for a lay person to relate a physical injury to a physical event, expert help is often needed to conclusively identify the cause of a stress- induced injury, often weeks and sometimes years after the injury is sustained.
It takes great courage - many would say that of a kamikaze pilot - to blow the whistle on bullying. If an employee responsible for OH discovers bullying, and yet works under the same bully, it is exceptionally difficult to report the cause of the illness routinely or honestly.
While workplace bullying remains, through some interpretations, legally acceptable in cases where it cannot be interpreted as racially or sexually motivated, it is probably the most significant cause of workplace related illness. The fact that it is still largely denied, unrecognised and undetected demonstrates just how effectively bullying employers conceal their activities - and yes, behind the masks of prestigious awards and noble policy statements - and even behind - and from - OH workers.