Bullying Versus Harassment Versus Violence: Understanding The Similarities And Differences, And Risks For Employer Liability

OSHA describes workplace violence as, “any act or threat of physical violence, harassment, intimidation, or other threatening disruptive behavior. It ranges from threats and verbal abuse to physical assaults and even homicide.” The EEOC describes harassment as, “unwelcome conduct that “becomes unlawful where 1) enduring the offensive conduct becomes a condition of continued employment, or 2) the conduct is severe or pervasive enough to create a work environment that a reasonable person would consider intimidating, hostile, or abusive.” Interesting that both of these definitions seem to describe workplace bullying, yet many employers fail to address that issue.

Workplace bullying is systematic psychological abuse that degrades and humiliates, and causes anxiety, depression, burnout, and lower levels of job satisfaction in targets and bystanders. Behaviors include frequent yelling, manipulation of work, nasty emails, social isolation, and a host of others. This session will take you through the process of developing effective strategies for dealing with workplace bullying and provide a step-by-step guide for building a healthy workplace where employees can thrive.

WHY SHOULD YOU ATTEND?

If allowed to flourish, bullying causes increased turnover, communication breakdown, reduced quality in work and poor customer service. In the end, bullying creates an unsafe and unhealthy work environment that can cost an organization millions if not addressed. In fact, all negative behaviors at work cause anxiety, burnout, low job satisfaction, and increased turnover, but they have differing legal risks for employers. The distinction – and the overlap – between these concepts can certainly cause confusion, but not knowing the difference and acting proactively to stop these behaviors could result in an unwanted lawsuit brought by an employee.

AREA COVERED

• Definition of workplace bullying, violence and harassment and how they overlap
• How these behaviors are similar and different
• Consequences of allowing these behaviors to flourish
• Myths About Workplace Bullying
• Ten Steps to Eliminating Workplace Bullying
• The ultimate solution to bad behaviors: a positive workplace
• The social phenomenon of bad behaviors

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Define similarities and differences in workplace bullying, harassment, and violence
• Describe damage caused by these behaviors to make a business case for ending them
• Understand these behaviors as a social phenomenon, including traits of perpetrators and targets
• Determine organizational cultural factors that allow negative behaviors to thrive
• Articulate tactics for building preventative and sustainable positive culture change which can serve as part of your defense if ever challenged
• Articulate regulatory updates, including the four state laws against workplace bullying, and the EEOC and NLRB’s stance on the issue

WHO WILL BENEFIT?

• HR
• Business Consultants
• EAP’s
• Small Business Owners
• Risk Management
• Employee Relations
• Unions
• Employment law attorneys
• In-house general counsel