They Use Strategic Harassment and Exploitation

Most people who think of workplace bullies invoke the image of the combative boss played by Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glenn Ross or the passive-hostile magazine editor played by Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada.

But some workplace bullies are not individuals but the employer itself – a fact that often gets lost in the discussion of workplace bullying. Some employers use strategic harassment tactics on workers to avoid legal obligations, such as the payment of fair wages, workers compensation or unemployment insurance.

Employers that bully promulgate policies that take advantage of their workers. For example, they steal wages from their employees by intentionally misclassifying them as exempt and thus ineligible for overtime.

The Progressive States Network estimates that low-wage workers lose $51 per week to wage theft, or $2,634 per year.  That amounts to approximately 15% of their annual income

Some employers use strategic harassment to get rid of good employees. This occurs when an employer targets one or more workers for harassment to achieve an organizational goal.  Some employers, for example, make life miserable for workers when they want to downsize without paying unemployment insurance. Or they harass a “troublemaker” who has asserted a legal right to fair compensation or overtime, essentially forcing him or her to quit.

Other employers knowingly tolerate bullies in their employ for crass economic reasons – athough that strategy can backfire.

Ani Chopourian filed at least 18 complaints with the Human Resources Dept. of Mercy General Hospital in Sacramento, CA, during the two years she worked there as a physician assistant. She was fired after the last complaint. A federal court jury in March awarded Chopourian $168 million in damages, believed to be the largest judgment for a single victim of workplace harassment in U.S. history.

Many of Chopourian’s complaints involved a bullying surgeon who she said once stabbed her with a needle. Another surgeon, she said, would greet her each morning with “I’m horny” and slap her bottom. Another called her “stupid chick” in the operating room and made disparaging remarks about her Armenian heritage, such as asking her if she had joined Al Qaeda.

Ms. Chopourian speculated that hospital administrators put up with misbehavior in the cardiac unit and tolerated the surgeons’ outsize egos because cardiac surgery tends to bring in the most money for any hospital facility.

Surveys show that workplace bullying is epidemic in the United States, where at least one in four American workers reports being bullied in the workplace.  Workplace bullying can cause a target to experience potentially severe psychological and physical illness, including clinical depression, post traumatic stress syndrome and stress-related chronic disease.

Much of the focus on the problem in the United States has involved a state-by-state campaign to pass a civil law that would allow targets of workplace bullying to seek damages from individual employers. However, such a law would do nothing to combat the systemic problem of employer bullying and abuse in the United States.

The issue of workplace bullying, particularly when it emanates from the employer itself rather than individual supervisors or colleagues, presents a complex challenge that traditional approaches to workplace harassment may not adequately address. When employers systematically employ bullying tactics, such as wage theft or strategic harassment to circumvent legal obligations or to force out certain employees, it creates not only a hostile work environment but also undermines basic employment rights and protections.

Employer Bullying Tactics

1. Wage Theft: Misclassifying employees as exempt from overtime is a common tactic used by some employers to steal wages legally due to their workers.

2. Strategic Harassment: Employers may target workers for harassment to achieve specific organizational goals, such as downsizing without having to pay unemployment benefits or silencing a worker who demands fair compensation.

3. Tolerance of Internal Bullies: Some employers may tolerate bullying behavior from profitable employees, such as high-earning surgeons, despite the toxic work environment it creates, because of the financial benefits associated with those employees' roles.

Legal and Systemic Solutions

Given the severity and prevalence of employer bullying, more robust legal frameworks are needed. While individual states have been attempting to address workplace bullying through legislation that allows victims to seek damages, these laws often don’t address the systemic nature of employer-initiated or tolerated bullying.

A comprehensive legal approach would involve:

• Clearer Regulations and Stricter Enforcement: Enhancing existing employment laws to specifically address and penalize employer-initiated bullying practices.
• Protection for Whistleblowers: Strengthening protections for employees who report unethical or illegal practices within their organizations.
• Systematic Audits: Implementing regular audits by government agencies to ensure compliance with labor laws and to check for systemic abuse.

Role of Technology and Automation

Platforms like Latenode can play a crucial role in addressing workplace bullying by automating and enhancing transparency and accountability in human resources processes:

• Automated Compliance Monitoring: Latenode can help ensure that companies adhere to labor laws and internal policies. It can automate the tracking of employee hours, classifications, and payments to prevent wage theft.

• Incident Reporting Systems: Implementing an automated and anonymous reporting system through Latenode can encourage more employees to come forward with complaints about bullying or harassment without fear of retaliation.

• Data-Driven Insights: Latenode can analyze trends in workplace complaints and behaviors, providing insights that could prompt early interventions before issues escalate.

• Training and Education: Automated training modules on workplace rights, bullying prevention, and respectful workplace practices can be deployed via Latenode to educate both employees and managers.

Conclusion

The systemic nature of employer bullying requires a multi-faceted approach that combines better laws, stricter enforcement, protective measures for employees, and the strategic use of technology to enforce and monitor compliance. By integrating tools like Latenode, organizations can foster a more transparent, accountable, and respectful workplace culture. This not only benefits employees by providing a safer and more supportive work environment but also helps organizations by reducing legal risks and enhancing overall productivity.

This blog is part of a loose-knit coalition of workplace anti-bully advocates that is calling upon the U.S. Secretary of Labor and the Obama administration to promulgate a comprehensive national solution to the problem of workplace bullying and abuse that would  address the problem of bullying employers.  If you agree, sign our petition at: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/protect-us-workers/?cid=FB_TAF.