Report of the Expert Advisory Group on Workplace Bullying

Issues with the Current Environment

The Group have determined that:

• Workplace bullying is an increasing problem. Whether this is due to an increase in the incidence of bullying or an increasing awareness of the unacceptability of bullying behaviour is not clearly demonstrable. However the end result is the same – increased numbers of complaints, higher levels of workplace stress, greater frustration with a lack of formal channels for resolving such complaints and an increased burden on all parties to resolve disputes.
• Workplace bullying is not a “normal” industrial relations issue.
• Existing measures to tackle the problem are insufficient.
• Responsibility for tackling the problem is diffuse and, as a result, the response has been poor.
• The impact of bullying on the individual is so severe that strong action on the part of employers and the State is called for.

Recommendations

The Group have produced a number of recommendations to address the problem of workplace bullying. The recommendations are designed to prevent and resolve specific occurrences of workplace bullying. They are not designed to replace existing procedures whereby people, for example, can bring a case for constructive dismissal to the Employment Appeals Tribunal citing bullying as a contributory factor. The key recommendations are:

• The inclusion of bullying as a risk together with policies and procedures tomitigate that risk should be mandatory in every employer’s Safety Statement. The Health and Safety Authority will be charged with ensuring that this isenforced.
• A formal model for the handling of bullying cases should be published for the guidance of employers in their workplace dispute resolution procedures and should be followed by the State for cases referred out of the workplace.
• The Labour Relations Commission should be the single State Agency charged with the management of specific allegations of workplace bullying.
• The Employment Appeals Tribunal or the Labour Court will be the court of appeal for decisions of a Rights Commissioner.
• The Labour Relations Commission will encourage and promote Alternative Dispute Resolution as the preferred approach to tackling instances of bullying. The Commission will resource its teams and allocate responsibilities accordingly.
• Decisions by the Employment Appeals Tribunal or the Labour Court will be binding and legally enforceable through the Courts.

The Irish Business and Employers Confederation (IBEC) does not support the view that decisions of a third party in regard to adjudication on cases of bullying should be legally enforceable. Further, IBEC objects to making it a requirement that an anti bullying policy be part of an employer’s Safety Statement.

The detail of these and subsidiary recommendations is included later in this report.

Impact

The Group is of the belief that the impact of these recommendations will be:

• A significant improvement in the overall national response to the issue of workplace bullying;
• Clarity of process to resolution for victims;
• Transparency of process;
• Timeliness;
• Higher proportion of cases being resolved without recourse to adversarial processes;
• Higher levels of early closure;
• Less trauma for victims;
• Clear and actionable data on trends and patterns in workplace bullying.

The Group believes that new legislation is required to give effect to the implementation of its recommendations.