Be Aware of Workplace Bullying

Employee Assistance Program Bullying behavior can occur in nearly any setting—including at work. Adults 1-800-324-8914 who have been bullied on the job often suffer with long-lasting stress,

PoweredTCPDFby (www.tcpdf.org) anxiety, depression, and a range of unpleasant physical symptoms.

Workplace bullying can be considered a type of psychological violence. While sexual harassment at work has received increased attention lately, Speaking up is key many other types of workplace bullying occur: • Spreading hurtful rumors or gossip Don’t tolerate bullying behavior or it will continue and escalate. • Excluding or isolating someone, or embarrassing them in front of others Sometimes a simple action brings • Using verbally abusive language about someone’s race, religion or results, such as deflecting a sexual orientation person’s verbal attacks with brief, • Undermining or damaging a person’s work disarming responses. • A supervisor assigning unreasonable Be as professional as possible deadlines or workloads to cause extra and clearly inform the person stress of your limits, e.g., “Don’t enter • Intruding on a person’s privacy by my cubicle again without my spying or stalking (including via invitation.” electronic communications) • Intimidating through yelling or using If the behavior continues, report profanity it to the person’s supervisor and/or Human Resources (HR). If • Threatening or committing physical you learn others have also been abuse bullied, enlist their involvement Workplace bullying victims may not know to build a stronger case what to do to stop the abusive behavior. A growing number of institutions now have adopted anti-bullying policies.

Almost one in five U.S. adults report having directly experienced bullying on the job. Bosses represent about 60 percent of workplace bullies.

Log on to MagellanHealth.com/member today! Steps to take against bullying

There are concrete actions you can take if you have been the target of abusive, harassing behavior at work.

• Either in person or by email, firmly tell the person that • Keep copies of any inappropriate emails or texts his or her behavior is out of place and may be seen as received in a secure place. harassment. • Report abuse to a manager or to Human Resources in • Avoid aggressive reactions toward a bully. This could your organization. Don’t delay in speaking up. File a be misread by observers who think you’re the one at formal complaint if necessary to get action. fault. • If you believe the organization’s response is not • Document every instance of bullying behavior. Write enough, and you’re at ongoing risk, consider making a down the date, time and event description. Include job change. Your health and wellness are the priority. names of any witnesses. Also ask your co-workers to document any bullying behavior they witness or suffer.

When the boss is a bully

Assess the behavior Object professionally Tap higher-level help If your supervisor treats you in what Without becoming emotional Approach your HR department with you consider an abusive manner— or showing weakness, respond documentation of the incidents if seeking to isolate and shame you— to bullying behavior by casually you have tried without success to try to determine whether you are his pointing out to the person that address the situation directly with or her only target or whether other the behavior isn’t professional. Set your supervisor, or fear retaliation. colleagues face similar treatment. clear boundaries and be consistent. With HR, explain how the bullying If others appear to be victimized, Early on, strive to identify the boss’s has adversely impacted group consider discussing the situation triggers for bullying behavior in order productivity. Also, if you’re struggling privately with them. to avoid situations that are likely to with a bullying situation, contact your escalate. program for confidential counseling support.

Additional sources: Workplace Bullying Institute, NoBullying.com, Monster.com, MarketWatch.com.

Webinar—Join us Wednesday, June 13 for a webinar on a timely topic: How to Manage Bullying in the Workplace. Register here.