Bullying in the Workplace: A Survival Guide For Canadians

By Dr. Carol Pye

Being bullied in your workplace can harm your health and threaten your livlihood. This book is a guide to surviving workplace bullying, using many of the methods that psychologists typically use to assist their bullied clients. The book explores the dynamics of bullying and the psychology of both bullies and their targets to allow the reader a better understanding of their experience. The book is designed for Canadians and reviews Canadian legislation and resources. The examples on topics like whistleblowing are Canadian examples. Rates of bullying in various Canadian occupational groups are reviewed. This book should be particularly helpful to anyone experiencing workplace bullying who does not have access to professional resources.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: May 31, 2016
• ISBN: 9781483449241

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Pye

Copyright © 2016 Dr. Carol Pye.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means---whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic---without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-4925-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-4924-1 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 04/26/2016

CONTENTS

Chapter 1 Workplace Bullying an Overview

A Brief Overview of Bullying

Some Definitions of Workplace Bullying

Differentiating Workplace Bullying from Other Workplace Problems

A Case Study

A Typical Time Course of Workplace Bullying

Chapter 2 The Factors that Contribute to Bullying

Who Engages in Bullying

Who Gets Bullied

Sexism and Racism as Factors in Bullying

Some Special Types of Bullying

Abuse of Authority

Whistleblowers

What Happens to the Whistleblowers

Whistleblower Protection Legislation in Canada Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act 2011

Career Assassination

Chapter 3 The Effects of Bullying

The Effects of Bullying on Targetsand on the Workplace

Can Bullying Result in Post Traumatic Stress DisorderPTSD?

What is the Financial Cost of Bullying?

Chapter 4 Bullying in Particular Occupations

Armed Forces

RCMP

Medicine

Nursing

Teaching

Law

Academia

Civil Servants

Chapter 5 Rate your own Bullying Experience

Chapter 6 Survival Strategies for Coping with Workplace Bullying

Place the Blame Where it Belongs

Should You Confront the Bully?

Find Reliable Support

Find Other People Who Have Had Experiences of Workplace Bullying

Keep Detailed Records of Bullying Events

Protecting Your Health

Emotional Processing and Mental Clarity

Maintaining Hope and Control in your Life

Dealing with HR, Unions and Lawyers

Dealing with Injustice

Chapter 7 Canadian Legislation on Workplace Bullying

Quebec

Saskatchewan

Ontario

Manitoba

British Columbia

Federal Employees

Other Relevant Legislation

Chapter 8 The Work that Remains to be Done

Public Education

Media Attention to Workplace Bullying

Employer Education

Lobbying for Legislative Changes

Government Initiatives

Union Initiatives

The Professions, Medicine, Law, Health Professions

Chapter 9 Valuable Resources

Websites on Workplace Bullying

Books on Workplace Bullying

Books on Therapy and Recovery

How to Find a Psychologist

Bullying Resource Sites, Support Groups and Blogs

Provincial Resources

CHAPTER 1

Workplace Bullying an Overview

A Brief Overview of Bullying

T here has been an active public discussion about bullying for the last several years. Much of that discussion has been focused on bullying that occurs among school children. Undoubtedly, this focus has been of value in recognizing and addressing the bullying that occurs among children. However, to the observer of the public discussion, it would be too easy to get the impression that bullying stops after children graduate from high school or that bullying among adults is rare and inconsequential. Nothing could be further from the truth. Bullies do not outgrow or end their harmful behaviors when they leave high school. They often get further education, enter the professions, take positions in corporations and work in our public institutions. In those workplace positions, bullies can cause great harm to the people that they target for their destructive behavior. There needs to be a broader public discussion about bullying among adults, most of which occurs in the workplace. Bullying in the workplace is a public health issue that is associated with great mental health harms, great financial cost and lost productivity. We all need to acknowledge the scope of the problem, the harm it causes and the need for a broad based response. Bullying in the workplace is no more a private or individual problem than child abuse is a private family matter.

My perspective on workplace bullying comes from my work as a psychologist. For those of us who provide psychological treatment services, the nature of our work is that we hear many stories of people confronting and surviving painful experiences. The stories of workplace bullying are among the most compelling stories I have heard. There can be little doubt that workplace bullying is prevalent and extremely damaging. A 2012 worldwide survey conducted by Reuters surveyed 14,600 workers in 12 countries. About 30% of them rated their workplace as psychologically unsafe and unhealthy¹. Similar estimates of prevalence for workplace bullying for US workers show about 30% have been bullied during their working lives². One prevalence estimate for Canada in 2006 was higher: 40% of Canadian workers experienced workplace bullying³. People who go through bullying suffer significant psychological impacts and often lose their jobs or even their careers because of the bullying. It can be very challenging to survive workplace bullying. Career RCMP officers have told me that they were more able to cope with threats to their life in the course of their police work than the bullying they later experienced from superior officers. Like most people, the bullying that they experienced from one of their own is not something they could ever have anticipated. The other thing that has impressed me as I worked with people who experienced workplace bullying is that the reality and seriousness of bullying is simply not acknowledged in most organizations. It is scarcely acknowledged by society in general. People who go through workplace bullying are essentially alone in their experience and have few resources to help them deal with it.

For the most part in Canada, it is not illegal to bully someone at work. Employers and organizations usually do not respond well to targets of bullying or offer them any meaningful assistance beyond lip service. Bullying in the workplace needs much greater public recognition and we have a long way to go before we have the type of resources in place to be able to respond adequately to it or reduce is occurrence.

Some Definitions of Workplace Bullying

Workplace Bullying: Canadian Center for Occupational Health and Safety

Bullying usually involves repeated incidents or a pattern of behaviour that is intended to intimidate, offend, degrade or humiliate a particular person or group of people. It has also been described as the assertion of power through aggression... Bullying is usually seen as acts or verbal comments that could 'mentally' hurt or isolate a person in the workplace. Sometimes, bullying can involve negative physical contact as well.

Workplace Bullying: Workplace Bullying Institute, USA, Gary and Ruth Namie

Workplace Bullying is repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets)