Posts Tagged ‘Workplace Bullying Institute’

Legislative season update for the anti-bullying Healthy Workplace Bill

Tuesday, February 10th, 2015

The WBI State Coordinators are hard at work meeting with legislative sponsors for the WBI anti-bullying Healthy Workplace Bill. Here’s a status report. As of Feb. 10 …

• North Dakota became the 27th state to introduce something — HB 1428. That something is a simple paragraph declaring that public sector employers have to address harassment, ostensibly not just the currently illegal variety of discriminatory misdeeds. The bill cleared the House on a 91-0 vote and is on to the Senate for consideration. Visit the ND State page at the HWB website for details.

• Connecticut has a somewhat related bill — SB 432. It creates an “advisory board,” akin to past study groups and task forces that lawmakers use to delay taking any real action. Visit the CT State page at the HWB website for details.

• Utah’s HB 216 is the boldest of the small step bills to date. It requires employers to address the HWB’s definition of health-harming abusive conduct by providing annual training. Better than California’s recently implemented training mandate, Utah would require coverage of not only the definition of the phenomenon, but its effect on worker’s health and a description of what remedies the employer has in effect. Visit the UT State page at the HWB website for details.

• We saved the best for last. New York returns to lead the nation with a complete Healthy Workplace Bill in the Assembly — A 3250. The bill provides legal redress for employees harmed by abusive conduct. It rewards proactive employers who voluntarily protect workers with adequate policies and procedures with a litigation prevention mechanism. It defines the phenomenon and applies to employers in both private and public sectors. Our State Coordinators continue to set the highest bar for comparison. A 3250 has 80 co-sponsors. The Senate companion bill is in the works. Visit the NY State page at the HWB website for details.

Stay tuned for major developments as additional states come on board.

Tags: bills, Gary Namie, Healthy Workplace Bill, laws, legislation, prevention, state laws, Workplace Bullying Institute
Posted in Healthy Workplace Bill (U.S. campaign), Hear Ye! Hear Ye! 2, WBI Education, Workplace Bullying Laws | No Archived Comments | Post A Comment () »

Webinar for HR: When the workplace bully is the boss

Saturday, February 7th, 2015

Wednesday Feb. 11 Webinar for Employers & HR
2 pm EST, 60 minutes
A joint production of the Workplace Bullying Institute and Biz21 Publishing

When the Bully is the Boss

Many companies assume they don’t have a bullying problem. Employees get along. In meetings, team members respect each other. But look closer. You might find that the bully is the very person you would expect your employees to turn to if they are being bullied—the boss.

Some managerial bullying is unintentional — supervisors see themselves as “demanding results.” Other times bosses know their behavior crosses the line, but don’t care.
Not convinced? Consider the slew of new state laws protecting workers against bullying. And consider the number of companies that have rushed to adopt anti-bullying policies and procedures for investigating complaints.

The costs are real. The employee’s health can suffer, causing missed work, higher healthcare costs and reduced productivity. Bullied employees are also a flight risk, as are those who witness bullying. And there’s the threat of lawsuits against the company.

In this session, Dr. Gary Namie will teach you:

• How to recognize and respond to a bully boss
• What differentiates “bullying” from other conduct- both illegal (discrimination) and legal (non-abusive disagreements)
• Why the workplace climate may be allowing the bully to prosper
• Why owners and executives often tend to defend bullies
• How to build an abuse-intolerant, accountable culture for all employees, regardless of rank
• How to measure outcomes of anti-bullying activities that benefit both employees and the company.

To Register for the Webinar

Tags: biz21, bully bosses, Gary Namie, webinar, workplace bullying, Workplace Bullying Institute
Posted in Events & Appearances, Hear Ye! Hear Ye! 2 | No Archived Comments | Post A Comment () »

Training in workplace bullying/abusive conduct is necessary but not sufficient

Saturday, January 31st, 2015

In 2015, California law mandates that supervisors in all firms with 50 or more employees receive “training” in abusive conduct. The term “abusive conduct” was lifted from the WBI Healthy Workplace Bill language we have been using since 2003 to introduce and pass a comprehensive law against workplace bullying.

Training done right can overcome deficits in skills. Training is the wrong tool to reverse immoral conduct. But training is useful to make everyone aware that misconduct is happening.

Training backfires when it teaches there is a problem and the organization has no procedures in place to deal with the misconduct. It’s clear that only a small (5.5%) of American employers have the will to actually prevent or correct health-harming abusive conduct. No effective state laws have yet been enacted to compel employer compliance. So, few have good policies. Even fewer have the voluntary desire to stop it. No laws; no policies; lazy employers.

When supervisors get trained, in the best possible way — live, interactive, Q&A sessions, employee expectations will rise. Everyone will wonder when and how the bullying will end in their workplace. If employer actions are limited to supervisor training, very little will be done. Employee distrust and disengagement will follow.

Another concern is how will the training be conducted? The new law based on AB 2053, adds training in abusive conduct (which is currently legal) to the requisite training in sexual harassment (which is illegal). The mix will not only confuse employees; most employers don’t know the difference. Workers will be expecting policies for bullying to apply that don’t exist.

It is alarming to find that many employers post online slide shows to educate workers about sexual harassment. It’s a joke that no one takes seriously. A slide show with little content and no interaction. Really, how lazy can employers be. It’s called “compliance.” Given the complexity of bullying’s effect on the entire workplace and the fact that current sex harass trainers and conflict resolution professionals don’t understand bullying, we fear for the future.

In other words, disembodied training can do more harm than good. Beware of premature awareness!

Training should be preceded by a commitment by leadership to stopping bullying. Then, organizational prevalence should be determined. Next, a code or policy or set of behavioral expectations must be created along with procedures to correct confirmed violators. Then, and only then, should training be undertaken.

If you know of, or are, a California employer, contact WBI for help addressing the problem that will comply with the law and help your organization at the same time. We have also produced a 20 min. DVD to introduce Abusive Conduct to organizations.

Tags: abusive conduct, DVD, education, Gary Namie, Healthy Workplace Bill, supervisors, training, Workplace Bullying Institute
Posted in Healthy Workplace Bill (U.S. campaign), Workplace Bullying Laws | No Archived Comments | Post A Comment () »

A Meaningful New Year’s Resolution: Gain in-depth knowledge about workplace bullying origins & solutions

Friday, January 2nd, 2015

A Meaningful New Year’s Resolution

• To acquire a mastery of all aspects of the workplace bullying phenomenon: history of the international movement, distinguishing bullying from conflict and incivility, profiles of perpetrators and targets, origins and sustaining factors, understanding coworkers’ actions, explaining counterintuitive and nonsensical patterns and practices, solutions for individuals and work teams and unions and managers and employers, introduction to international laws and American attempts to enact legislation.

• To familiarize yourself with the science that provides the knowledge foundation for the movement (over 320 articles provided to you)

• To apply, with legitimate authority, the new knowledge to your workplace in your organizational role, or to teach your union colleagues, or to add the specialty to your professional work, or to become an advocate.

• To overcome employer misunderstandings about, and resistance to eliminating, abusive workplace conduct

• To improve the lives of those currently suffering; to preclude misery for future targeted individuals

There’s only one way to accomplish it … attend WBI’s Workplace Bullying University®

WB University is the nation’s first and only comprehensive training in workplace bullying for professionals. Attendees include entrepreneurs, HR directors, training directors, organizational consultants, EEO investigators, union officers, managers, attorneys, nurses, physicians, academic researchers, counselors, psychologists, and social workers.

(more…)

Tags: Dr. Gary Namie, Dr. Ruth Namie, education, research, training, Workplace Bullying Institute, Workplace Bullying University
Posted in WBI Education, Workplace Bullying University | 1 Archived Comment | Post A Comment () »

WBI Survey: Impugning the Integrity of Targets of Workplace Bullying

Thursday, November 6th, 2014

People who find themselves trapped in a bullying scenario can attest to the crazymaking, irrational nature of the mistreatment. Much of the harm caused by the abusive conduct stems from the shattering of targets’ beliefs about fairness, fairness in the work world specifically. First, they are typically the high performers who unknowingly trigger the envy of perpetrators. Targets are aware of their work skill at a deep personal ontological level. Perpetrators come into their lives who determined to reject the agreed-upon perceptions of the targets’ skills. There are objective truths, a reality.

When Bullies are Bosses

Perpetrators often use their formal (by organizational rank) or informal power to state the obviously opposite perception about technically skilled targets. Though this defies reality, they convince organizational allies to believe them and not targets.

In simplest form, it becomes a “he said, he said” deadlock. But most bullies who are bosses rely on support from higher up to add weight to their side.

The shrewdest perpetrators use ingratiation over many years to convince their executive sponsors (their enablers) that they, the bullies, are indispensable. Further, if and when they are described as abusive or destructive by one or more targets in the future, the executive will defend her or his “indispensable” perp by ignoring the target’s portrayal of a friend and colleague.

Thus conditions are not favorable when targets report the facts about what they have experienced at the hands of the favored perpetrator. After all, targets do bring negative news about people who typically outrank them.

When Bullies are Coworkers

In situations where targets have multiple perpetrators, there are many individuals who can provide accounts of alleged bullying incidents that will be at odds with what targets say happened.

For targets bullied by a gang of coworkers (cliques and mobs also are apt descriptions), it is doubly negative. Not only do they outnumber the target, the target is deprived of the chance to have her or his story corroborated by coworkers. Though few coworkers ever step up to offer support to targets, some do. When coworkers are the bullies, the potential source of support is lost.

Gullible investigators (typically working inside the organization for another department) will have their judgement swayed by many against one, and believe the tale that many tell even if those versions are not true.

The Effects of Not Being Believed

For targets, it’s a matter of honor and integrity. Repeated studies have shown that targets claim that their honesty is one of the major reasons for being targeted for abuse. They do seem to be very principled, non-political workers.

(more…)

Tags: 2014 ip f, attribution error, believing targets, bullied targets, bullying research, credibility, Daniel Christensen, Gary Namie, instant poll, truth, workplace bullying, Workplace Bullying Institute
Posted in Tutorials About Bullying, WBI Education, WBI Surveys & Studies | 3 Archived Comments | Post A Comment () »

Kansas City Star: Workplace Bullying – A scourge that’s hard to define, harder to root out

Wednesday, November 5th, 2014

By Diane Stafford – The Kansas City Star – November 3, 2014

Ever since the National Football League acknowledged that a 312-pound offensive lineman could be emotionally upended by teammate harassment, workplace bullying has been getting a slo-mo review.

A national suvey says 1 in 4 workers have been bullied at work. Three out of four workers say they’re aware it’s a workplace problem.

Employment law attorneys and human resource consultants are spending countless hours at conferences and conventions, advising on how to prevent bullying behavior. Essentially, employers are told to create a workplace culture from the top down in which everyone is treated with respect.

Easier said than done.

(more…)

Tags: diane stafford, kansas city star, workplace bullying, Workplace Bullying Institute
Posted in WBI in the News | 1 Archived Comment | Post A Comment () »

ABA Annual Labor & Employment Law Conference, Los Angeles: Bullying on Nov. 6

Monday, November 3rd, 2014

A workshop “Eliminating Bullying and Incivility: Training the Trainer” on Thursday Nov 6 is part of the 8th Annual ABA Labor & Employment Law Conference in Los Angeles.

The session: 2:15-3:30 pm in rooms Platinum H-J, JW Marriott Hotel

Bullying and incivility in the workplace raise concerns that go beyond whether the behavior is illegal, and affect all aspects of the working environment. This program features an expert in anti-bullying training and is designed to provide practical, hands-on training to participants such that they will be able to train others in the workplace.

MODERATOR:
Monique Gougisha Doucette, Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.,
New Orleans, LA

SPEAKERS:
Luanne M. Peterpaul, Gluck Waltrath, LLP, Red Bank, NJ

Gary Namie, PhD, The Workplace Bullying Institute, Bellingham, WA

The Conference Program.

Tags: American Bar Association, attorneys, employment attorneys, Gary Namie, labor law, Luanne M. Peterpaul, Monique Gougisha Doucette, training, workplace bullying, Workplace Bullying Institute
Posted in Events & Appearances | No Archived Comments | Post A Comment () »

U-T: About California’s new law to train supervisors about abusive conduct

Monday, November 3rd, 2014

State to Workplace Bullies: Knock It Off
By Jonathan Horn, San Diego Union-Tribune, Nov. 2, 2014

When Stephen Cruz got a new supervisor a few years ago, his staff job at UC San Diego became something of a living hell.

The new boss would repeatedly yell at workers, scold them behind closed doors, tower above them at their desks, get visibly agitated and red in the face, and send out harsh emails when something went wrong. The emails didn’t include foul language but called out workers with phrases like “I told you,” or “I gave you a direct order,” evidence of what Cruz called extreme micromanagement.

“It may have been stylistic, but it was unacceptable,” said Cruz, who works on the medical school campus. “Yes, we need supervisors. Yes, we need managers. But we’re not at each other’s throats. We’re there to work on the mission of the university.”

Cruz, 46, said he considered the supervisor’s conduct — which improved after university and union involvement — to be abusive.

A state law taking effect Jan. 1 hopes to curb that behavior at the start. The legislation, authored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, requires that employers in California with 50 or more workers include lessons on anti-workplace bullying when they carry out state-mandated sexual harassment training for supervisors every two years.

(more…)

Tags: AB2053, abusive conduct, Gary Namie, Healthy Workplace Bill, supervisor training, UCSD, workplace bullying, Workplace Bullying Institute
Posted in Healthy Workplace Bill (U.S. campaign), Media About Bullying, Print: News, Blogs, Magazines, WBI in the News, Workplace Bullying Laws | No Archived Comments | Post A Comment () »

Utah Healthy Workplace Bill advocates on radio

Monday, November 3rd, 2014

Utah State Coordinator, Denise Halverson, chief advocate for the WBI anti-bullying Healthy Workplace Bill, and citizen lobbyist Travis Ackerman joined Feedback show host Abby Bonell on KNRS (Salt Lake City) to discuss workplace bullying and the HWB on October 30, 2014.

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Tags: Abby Bonell, Denise Halverson, Healthy Workplace Bill, KNRS, Travis Ackerman, workplace bullying, Workplace Bullying Institute
Posted in Healthy Workplace Bill (U.S. campaign), Tutorials About Bullying, WBI Education, WBI in the News, Workplace Bullying Laws | No Archived Comments | Post A Comment () »

WBI Survey: Politicians as Bullies?

Thursday, October 30th, 2014

It is common knowledge that politics in 2014 America are quite polarized. No longer do politicians pretend to want to solve social problems with social policy. Interactions between politicians are characterized by ad hominem attacks. Politicians seem to be mimicking the personalized nature of bullying. The parallels between the political and workplace domains seemed obvious to us at WBI.

However, critics quickly pounce on our blog musings about the similarities. Commentators say “stick to workplace bullying and stay out of politics.” They believe politics is a field of employment different than any other. The same failure to see equivalence occurred when NFL player Jonathan Martin walked away from his professional football team claiming he endured an “abusive work environment.” The majority of society granted the NFL exemption from treatment as a workplace where employers bear responsibility for harm their employees suffer. It was said that the locker room is so unique it cannot be changed from its barbaric state.

Ironically, the NFL itself defined its locker room as a workplace. Discrimination laws apply. And the Martin case taught the NFL lessons about human responses to abusive conduct even when targets weigh 300 or more pounds.

In this survey, we asked 307 respondents (bullied targets and witnesses) to give their opinion about whether politics involves bullying or not. Question:

Is bullying by politicians of politicians or citizens as harmful as workplace bullying?

The percentages for each response option were:

.873 Yes, always

.001 Never, bullying tactics define politics

The results show that the community of bullied targets does not grant exemptions easily. They conclude that bullying and abuse are the same regardless of venue. Apologists for politicians’ outrageous anti-social behavior towards one another like to say that politics is a special type of workplace, immune from social codes and restrictions that apply to everyone else.

But bullied targets do not see the separation into distinct domains. Anti-abuse rules for everyone should apply everywhere — in families, in schools, in churches, in workplaces and among occupants of our legislative chambers.

Download as PDF file.

© 2014 Workplace Bullying Institute. Do not use without proper citation of WBI as the source.

Tags: 2014 IP e, bullying research, Gary Namie, instant poll, negative conduct, polarization, political behavior, politicians, Workplace Bullying Institute
Posted in Tutorials About Bullying, WBI Education, WBI Surveys & Studies | 1 Archived Comment | Post A Comment () »