Recently, I decided to do an entry on the issue of workplace bullying, this issue is one that is particularly important to me having both experienced and witnessed workplace bullying in a number of professional environments.
I’ll start by first defining the term.
What is workplace bullying?
Workplace bullying is defined in Lipinski, Abright and Fenclau (2014) as “a form of interpersonal aggression or antisocial behaviour in the workplace that exceeds what may be considered simple incivility, and is associated with negative outcomes for both perpetrators and victims (Anderson and Pearson, 1999; Neuman and Baron, 2005; Salin, 2003)” . Akella (2016) states that it, “constitutes repeated and persistent negative actions aimed at one or more individuals, which results in the creation of a hostile working environment.” We can agree that this is not a new phenomenon, Hutchinson, Vickers, Jackson, & Wilkes (2004) define it as “an invisible, “intensively, individualized and harmful experience”.
Types of workplace bullying
There are a number of ‘typologies’ and manifestations of behaviour when it comes to workplace bullying, for example, excessive monitoring, unfair and excessive criticism, undermining someone’s decisions, attacking an individual’s professional integrity/reputation, it could also include ignoring an individual, their phone calls and emails and even their contributions in meetings, embarrassing or demeaning them in the presence of work colleagues. Workplace bullying also includes victimisation, physical harassment, power harassment, cyberbullying, verbal harassment, as well as discriminatory harassment, including racial harassment, gender, religious harassment, disability, age and sexual orientation-harassment. Authors, Lipinski, Albright and Fenclau (2014) summerised specific forms of workplace bullying, which included verbal abuse, threatening, intimidating, hostile, offensive humiliating behaviours, sabotage, abuse of authority, the list could go on.
The prevalence of this phenomenon in Trinidad and Tobago is evidenced by the number of articles in the print and online media, online sources and the number of seminars being held to discuss, inter alia, the topic. Within the last year alone, a number of associations and organizations have held presentations on bullying in the workplace and/or workplace violence, amongst them have been the “Northern Branch of the Trinidad and Tobago Nurses Association”, and the University of the West Indies’ Human Resources Division.
Relevant local laws
When I first thought of this blog I decided to look at the Industrial Court of Trinidad and Tobago’s website, I did a search for the terms “bullying” and “workplace bullying”, I was unsuccessful in locating any judgements. I then opted to search for the term “abuse” and 37 search results came up, I was then able to locate some judgements in cases which referenced abuse and abusive behaviour aimed at employees, the details of which could, on the face of it, classify the referenced behaviours as instances of workplace bullying. I subsequently did a search for “harassment” and seven results came up, the majority of which involved sexual harassment (a bit more on this later).
A review of these judgments have also led me to note that some of Trinidad and Tobago’s Laws while not expressly prohibiting “workplace bullying” do prohibit “bullying” type behaviour, inclusive of harassment and abuse. Indeed bullying may become illegal when it violates laws which prohibit discrimination or harassment in the workplace. Such pieces of legislation would include the Industrial Relations Act (IRA), Chapter 88:01; the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act, Chapter 88:08; the Offences Against the Person (Amendment) (Harassment) Act, 2005, and the Equal Opportunities Act (EOA) 2000. The OSH Act indicates that an employer has a duty under section 6 (1) to “ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the safety, health and welfare at work….” The EOA prohibits discrimination against an individual based on their status or characteristic, it also prohibits victimisation and discrimination in employment. In particular, the Offences Against the Person (Amendment) (Harassment) Act 2005 defines harassment and makes it unlawful to carry out the prohibited course of conduct. Organisations such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO) also provide guidelines for addressing workplace violence.
Experiences of workplace bullying
I daresay that everyone who has ever worked for and with other people in these blessed lands has either witnessed, experienced or carried out an act of workplace bullying. In workplaces across these islands we have all heard (or started/contributed to) a malicious rumour about a colleague who got a promotion under dubious circumstances, there is usually a gender dimension to the bullying that takes place in such instances as well.
There is a recognised link between discrimination and harassment but not necessarily bullying. I submit that there is such a link, for example, I’m quite sure that we’ve all witnessed bullying in the form of an abuse of power where someone in authority uses his/her position to excessively monitor and intimidate a junior member of staff (whom they’ve ‘selected’ based on some ‘status’ or characteristic that the more powerful individual deems unacceptable), monitoring their phone usage as well as how long the employee takes when visiting the bathroom, and proceeds to use this information to victimise or censure the individual in front of other members of staff. I’ve even witnessed a person, who subsequently rose to an extremely senior leadership role in the civil service, berate an employee, in full view and earshot of their colleagues, for wearing a work suit that did not meet that senior person’s standards for workplace dress, mind you, there was no dress code in place at the time and to my mind the employee was not dressed inappropriately.
I’ve witnessed persons using their positions to intimidate persons into doing work that was not originally assigned to them and then threatening them with bad performance reports if they did not carry out these demands. Over the years I’ve even witnessed members of the political directorate participate in workplace bullying by using their unique brand of intimidation to defame, slander and libel persons who work for and around them if the individual(s) did not comply with their, usually ‘irregular’, instructions. I’ve seen and heard them shout at, scream at and threaten employees and I’ve seen them cyber-stalk (if that’s a term) employees to get their way.
Effects of workplace bullying
Workplace bullying could have a number of negative impacts on the ‘victim’ and the witnesses, aside from lowered employee morale, there have been documented cases where persons have suffered genuine medical issues as a result of workplace bullying. The Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS) lists a number of impacts on the individual and the workplace, an individual may experience feelings of anger, frustration, loss of confidence, panic attacks, stress, physical symptoms such as the inability to sleep, the loss of appetite as well as stomach pains and headaches. The CCOHS indicates that the workplace may also be negatively affected by increased absenteeism, costs for employee assistance programs, staff-turnover and decreased productivity and customer confidence and customer service.
If you feel that you’re being bullied…
Of late I have observed that persons are becoming more and more aware of their rights and how they can protect them. The referenced Offences Against Person (Harassment) (Amendment) Act as well as the EOA set out an employee’s relevant rights and prohibits the referenced negative behaviour. Landau (2017) suggests that if an individual feels that he/she is being bullied they should try to handle the situation informally by talking to an HR rep or even the guilty party, if this doesn’t work, the employee could then lodge a formal complaint/grievance which the employer would then have to address using their internal formal procedures. It is advisable that the employee keep a diary of events, a record of all correspondence, the names of witnesses, the location of the incident(s) and a log of phone calls and text messages. I’d also include evidence of social media posts, tweets and direct messages. I’m reluctant to suggest voice recordings given the other legal implications and what transpired in the United States in the recent past, a la Omarosa (remember her?).
Specific Legislation
It is indeed unfortunate that Trinidad and Tobago has yet to create ‘specific’ legislation and policies on workplace bullying when a few of our Commonwealth partners have done so, for instance Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada. Australia’s Fair Work Amendment Act 2013 defines workplace bullying as, “repeated unreasonable behaviour by an individual towards a worker which creates a risk to health and safety.” There is even a Fair Work Ombudsman who assists workplaces with resolving their issues related to bullying and other matters under the Act’s remit.
In the English-speaking Caribbean there has been, of late, a great deal of focus on Sexual Harassment, which I have not touched on to any great degree in this particular blog entry, as I believe that it is a separate issue that deserves special attention given it’s grave importance. This notwithstanding, it is an occurrence that can stem from workplace bullying or lead to it as well. If you’d like to get some more information on Trinidad and Tobago’s sexual harassment policies, have a look at the Equal Opportunities Commission’s Guidelines on Sexual Harassment in the Workplace. There is also a National Workplace Policy on Sexual Harassment from which relevant legislation would arise. Judgements from the Industrial Court of Trinidad and Tobago would also provide guidance on how this issue should be handled in the workplace well. The President of the Industrial Court has also delivered a presentation on this issue which can be found on the Court website.
I hope you’ve enjoyed this piece and that it’s given you food for thought.
Best,
Simone
References
Akella Devi (2016). Workplace Bullying: Not a Manager’s Right? In the Journal of Workplace Rights, January-March 2016: 1-10.
Australian Fair Work Ombudsman, https://www.fairwork.gov.au/
Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety, https://www.ccohs.ca/oshanswers/psychosocial/bullying.html
Equal Opportunities Commission, Guidelines on sexual harassment in the workplace, https://equalopportunity.gov.tt/publications/publications-new-collection/guidelines-sexual-harassment-in-the-workplace.html
Hutchinson, M, Vickers, MH, Jackson, D & Wilkes, L 2004, ‘Organisational restructuring: an opportunity for bullying – preliminary findings from a studying of bullying in the Australian nursing workforce’, paper presented to Nursing leadership, policy and politics : Royal College of Nursing, Australia, National Conference and the 38th Patricia Chomley Oration, Alice, Springs, NT, 14-16 July.
Landau, Phillip. https://www.theguardian.com/careers/2017/mar/29/bullying-at-work-your-legal-rights
Lipinski, J. (Ed.), Crothers, L. (Ed.). (2014). Bullying in the Workplace. New York: Routledge.
Lipinski, J, Albright, C.M, & Fenclau E.J (2014) History of bullying in the American Workplace. In J. Lipinski and L.M. Carothers (eds.) Bullying in the Workplace. New York: Routledge.
Ministry of Labour and Small Enterprise, https://labour.gov.tt/mediaroom/latest-news-events/9-uncategorised/359-national-workplace-policy-on-sexual-harassment
Phoenix Legal and Consulting Services 