Workplace Bullying Policies: A Review of Best Practices and Research on Effectiveness

Abstract

Since the introduction of the concept of workplace bullying (WPB), there has been a great deal of scientific and popular press literature building awareness of the concept and the need for protection of employees in the workplace. WPB policies provide a crucial part of this employee protection. The presence and content of WPB policies may be prescribed by law, but in many countries, this is not the case. Nevertheless, as policies have been developed, tried and tested through complaints, grievance procedures and court cases, best practices have been studied and introduced.

These developments notwithstanding, the research on the effectiveness of WPB policies lags behind research on best practices. For example, WPB policies have been suggested to act as a preventive strategy through raising awareness, yet the literature examining implementation and awareness penetration of WPB policies is currently very limited. This chapter explores the extant literature on the need for WPB policies, the relationship between law and policies and the best practice content and practices associated with developing WPB policies. It also provides reference information helpful in developing practical and effective policies and reviews current research examining the impact and effectiveness of WPB policies and governance practices. The chapter sets out a research agenda for the future to address gaps in the literature. Finally, it acknowledges that WPB policies are only one of a range of interventions and initiatives required to address this concern and outline other methods of prevention and remediation.

Appendices

Appendix: Spotlight on Contact Person Networks

Contact persons are trained individuals who are identified as a possible initial point of contact for people who wish to discuss an issue associated with WPB. Contact people provide an opportunity for those who feel they have been bullied or harassed to discuss the issue(s) in a confidential environment without having to commit to a particular course of action; they are also a point of contact to help people understand what appropriate and effective action may be in a particular situation. From an organizational perspective, utilizing contact persons can help to instil confidence that issues of WPB will be taken seriously, helping to emphasize an employer’s commitment to tackling WPB. Having designated contact persons creates a pool of people who should be modelling appropriate behaviour in the workplace.

An ideal contact person network should contain people from a range of levels across the organization, who have a good understanding of the organization and of bullying (although caution should be exercised over inclusion of senior managers in smaller organizations, e.g. those with less than 300 employees). The cultural, demographic, occupational and educational diversity of the organization should also be reflected in contact persons available. Individuals within the network should receive appropriate training and should be mature, good listeners, trustworthy, credible, sensitive, discreet, analytical, practical, and accessible and approachable (Top Drawer Consultants, 1999, pp. 36–37).

Organizations need to be clear that a person’s manager, tutor, teacher or lecturer cannot be a contact person for the complainant. There is also an inherent conflict with HR advisers being contact people, as they have responsibilities towards both parties in a bullying or harassment issue, as well as their manager.

Training for contact people needs to be broad in terms of the knowledge base and skill bases required. Policies need to reflect the need for ongoing training and refreshing of the contact network, as well as the opportunity for professional supervision. Ideally, a contact person is removed from the contact network if they have not undertaken refresher training at least once every 3 years.

In addition to the factors stated above, effective contact person networks require the public endorsement and support from the head of the organization; ongoing promotion and publicity through accessible information sources (e.g. posters, face-to-face introductions with contact persons); a formal coordinator who takes responsibility for supporting, refreshing and professionally supervising or facilitating the professional supervision of contact people; robust recruitment, selection, training and review processes; defined boundaries for the role and allocated time for undertaking the work; and structured processes for recording and reporting contact. Reporting should not disclose names but should allow for the collation of general statistical information on the sorts of people approaching, for example, gender/level in organization/age, the actions they are concerned about, the people they are complaining about, the action they have taken/propose to take and what further action may be required. The data provided by the contact people should be used by the organization to create effective prevention strategies, targeting the specific issues that arise most frequently.

1.1 Potential Challenges

Potential challenges in establishing and successfully utilizing a contact person network arise in relation to the organizational attitude towards the network (e.g. it being used as an excuse for taking any other action or as a way of managers abdicating responsibility for having to address and intervene). Many challenges also associated with the recruitment, selection and retention of suitable individuals.

Ideally, contact people should be nominated by their manager or peers, have a reference from their manager about their suitability and have submitted some form of willingness to undertake the role. Maintaining the skill base of the network can also be problematic, as can ensuring members are sufficiently supported in the role. Unless the organization has a designated coordinator of the programme, members can become burnt out with the role, feel isolated within it and sometimes even feel bullied for being in the role. Turnover may result either from the aforementioned burnout, due to individuals leaving the network or organization or through promotion into a role that makes individuals unsuitable to act as a contact person. There is a need, therefore, to ensure the network is kept up to date with an appropriate number and range of personnel. Ensuring adequate training and definition of the role can also help to mitigate the risk of contact persons “going rogue” by operating beyond their brief and/or pursuing their own agendas.

Two key challenges require special attention: confidentiality and risk of defamation.

1.2 Confidentiality

Hubert (2012) notes the dilemma that secrecy constraints pose to confidential support people should a threat be identified to the target or others. This is overridden in many jurisdictions through the legislative requirements of OHS obligations. Should a safety issue be disclosed within an organization (e.g. self-harming, harm to others, potential danger through sabotage), legislation or internal policy required that the contact person will ensure that the relevant person(s) in the organization is informed of the issue, so that the organization can take appropriate remedial action. This is not a breach of confidentiality. Secrecy means that no one gets to know; confidentiality means that those who have a need to know will get to know. This includes the relevant management line and health and safety officers in the event of a safety issue being identified or in the event of a complaint being formally investigated. It also includes the respondent to a complaint. He or she has the right to natural justice, which in summary includes the right to know, the right to respond, the right to support and the right to time to respond (see Food Processing etc. IUOW v Unilever New Zealand Ltd (1990) ERNZ, cited with approval in A Ltd v H CA638/2014 (2016) NZCA 419). A respondent cannot fully respond to a complaint if they do not fully know the facts of the complaint made against them or the name of the complainant.

1.3 Defamation

A potential concern for people becoming contact people is that they could be sued for defamation should they pass on information about complaints made to them. Defamation is defined as “the act of making untrue statements about another which damages his/her reputation” (Hill & Hill, 2017).

Complainants, respondents and those properly involved in a complaint have a defence against defamation where the complaint is made honestly and only to those who have a duty to receive it (New Zealand Human Rights Commission, 1991). A defence of “qualified privilege” is available to those who have an accepted duty to be involved, which includes a contact person, as long as they comply with and limit themselves to the organization’s procedure and as long as any action that they take is done honestly and without malicious intent. Policies need to clarify that disciplinary action may result if a complainant makes a false, malicious, frivolous or vexatious complaint.

Cross-References

• Addressing Workplace Bullying: The Role of Training, Education and Development

• Alternate Dispute Resolution in Workplace Bullying and Harassment Complaints

• Complaint Investigation in Cases of Workplace Bullying, Emotional Abuse and Harassment

• Managing Workplace Bullying Complaints: Conceptual Influences and the Effects of Conceptual Factors

• Regulation as Intervention: How Regulatory Design Can Affect Behaviours in the Workplace

• Worker Representation and Advocacy in the Context of Workplace Bullying, Emotional Abuse and Harassment

Cross-References to Other Volumes

• Cyberbullying at Work: Understanding the Influence of Technology, Vol. 1

• Dignity, Vol. 1

• Ethical Challenges in Workplace Bullying and Harassment: Creating Ethical Awareness and Sensitivity, Vol. 1

• Evaluation of Organizational Interventions, Vol. 1

• The Hallmarks of Workplace Bullying, Emotional Abuse and Harassment, Vol. 1

• Theoretical Frameworks That Explain Workplace Bullying, Vol. 1

• Human Resources as an Important Actor in Workplace Bullying Situations: Where We Have Been and Where We Should Go, Vol. 2

• The Role and Impact of Leaders on Workplace Bullying, Emotional Abuse and Harassment, Vol. 2

• The Role of Working Environment Authorities in the Dynamics of Workplace Bullying, Emotional Abuse and Harassment, Vol. 2

• Upwards Bullying: What We Can Learn About Workplace Bullying, Vol. 2

• Customer Abuse, Vol. 4