If we had enforceable policies and procedures in the workplace to correct and prevent workplace bullying, wouldn't it make the workplace much safer and healthier for everyone, everyone from the top down? Did you know workplace bullying is currently legal unless a person falls into a protected status from the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Isn't it TIME we do something to protect the rest of us?
Who remembers what many people had to endure before there were legislative policies required in the workplace to correct and prevent sexual harrassment? How can we create the same process to protect workers, management, and even company owners from workplace bullying? We are all subject to the dangerous possibility of workplace bullying...no one is exempt.
First, let's define what we are talking about. Workplace bullying is something that can be perpetuated as "bullying up", "bullying down", or "bullying across", meaning anyone can become a target of workplace bullying. Repeated health harming treatment is a good way to describe the action and consequences of this phenomenon.
According to the professional WBI/Zogby Poll conducted in 2007, 37% of California workers are on the receiving end of workplace bullying...that is a whopping 5,602,429 California workers!! Another 12% of people have witnessed someone being bullied in the workplace, noting this phenomenon affects 7,419,433 people in California. These numbers are not made up out of thin air...they are REAL, and must be addressed publically to pressure lawmakers to do something to protect us!!
The book, The Bully at Work by Dr.s Ruth and Gary Namie, clearly tells us that naming the problem is where our recovery from this disaster begins. Look, if bullying is being recognized on school grounds as a problem, a very SERIOUS problem, why don't people make the obvious jump to realize these people grow up and take the very same behaviors with them to the workplace?! Also, if the behavior is ignored, it obviously escalates and gets worse.
There is a Healthy Workplace Bill being circulated to legislators in 26 states right now, including California. We know the current administration does not support this legislation (look who is at the helm...The Terminator!), but soon we will have different leadership, and hopefully they will believe in human rights, the right to be safe and healthy in our workplaces. We have a lot of work to do to get this legislation to "Correct and Prevent Workplace Bulling" passed into law.
If you believe this is as serious a problem as we do, join us at www.bullyfreeworkplace.org, join this BLOG, and support our mission to get legislation passed to make social change for the good of us all. Thanks, more to share in the days, weeks, months, and years to come.
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Looking back at the 4+ years I was bullied in the workplace, I now realize I was physically impaired by it. I had low blood pressure all my life. After two years of working under the bully, I gained 30 pounds, had high blood pressure, high cholesterol, sought counseling, and finally took FMLA to salvage my mental health.
ReplyDeleteThe following year I was "released" from my employ. I collected unemployment for the first time in my life until I found another job. I have always been a high performer, an asset to my employer. I did nothing to bring on the mistreatment I endured. We need a law to protect us!
Thanks for your tips and information...
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Andrew
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