Short Report, 400 Words, Memo Format, No plagiarism

B6

Data retrieved from www.healthyworkplacebill.org/ © 2013

State officials look to end workplace bullying

with legislative measures. By David M. Fisher • July 12, 2013

In her role as Human Resources Director at a mid-

sized state company, Maureen O’Dey has evaluated

countless questions and complaints about the

seemingly ever-increasing issue of workplace

bullying.

“More than half of all complaints I get are related in

some way to bullying,” said O’Dey. “I wouldn’t

categorize each case as extreme, but even issues

where employees are passive aggressive in their

overbearing behavior can have a significant impact

on overall workplace morale.”

Indeed, research shows that employees who feel

bullied or harassed are more likely to call in sick, are

more prone to actually get sick, and are far more

likely to quit their jobs. This can get expensive for

companies because high turnover is costly. And

that’s not even counting the cost of potential

lawsuits.

More and more employers are implementing anti-

bullying policies, but some groups want even more

action.

In fact, more than a dozen US states have talked

about legislation that would allow pursuit of lost

wages and other work-related expenses if an

employee is found to have been the victim of

bullying. The idea is that this would incentivize

employers to put a stop to abusive work

environments.

Dr. Gary Namie, co-founder of the Workplace

Bullying Institute, insists that bullying has been

made even worse by the economic downturn.

“People are trapped,” he says.” They don’t have the

same alternative jobs to jump to. They are staying

longer in these pressure, stress-filled toxic work

environments.”

Namie has championed the Healthy Workplace Bill,

which already has the support of 25 states. This Bill

defines bullying, gives employers reason to

terminate offenders, and provides legal redress for

victims. Some corporate advocates are against this

Bill, arguing that it gives too much leeway for

frivolous lawsuits. No matter what happens, it is

clear that company-level policies do need to be in

place.

One study found that more than half of companies

already have some kind of anti-bullying policy in

place within their code of conduct or employee

handbook. These current policies typically include

suspension, termination, reassignment, or required

anger management participation for alleged bullies.

David M. Fisher is a staff writer for the Tribune.