In addition to wreaking havoc on morale and productivity, workplace bullying may even land complacent employers in legal trouble.
Reason: New York and 11 other states are considering legislation that would protect workers from abusive bosses and co-workers.
To prevent workplace bullying, employers should be well-versed in all its forms. Aside from physical intimidation, here are five of the most common forms of workplace bullying to look out for:
- Verbal insults of employees. This type of bullying is one of the most common forms — i.e., Bob calls Sean “stupid” because of a mistake, etc.
- Slandering a co-worker’s name. Telling people that Marnie’s sleeping around too much, or Lloyd has a drinking problem.
- Excluding certain workers. Being excluded from the majority of departmental activities can have an extremely negative effect on workers.
- Unwelcome contact. It’s obvious that excessive touching is completely unacceptable, but staring at employees in a lewd manner also falls into this category.
- Unreasonable management. This takes place when a supervisor saddles a co-worker with an inordinate amount of work or a disciplinary action is unwarranted.
Readers, are we missing any? Share them with us in the Comments section.
