STOP WORKPLACE BULLYING!

New York Healthy Workplace Advocates
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New York Healthy Workplace Advocates http://www.nyhwa.org    

Legislative Summary

Bill A7801A – The Healthy Workplace Bill

A4921/S2715 – Back in Labor Committees 

Did you know...

1.4 million New York Employees are subjected to Psychological Violence in the Workplace   on a regular basis

New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) has issued a resolution to address workplace bullying via legislation

Professional Staff Congress (PSC) has issued a resolution to address workplace bullying via legislation

Business and Professional Women of New York State (BPW/NYS) has issued a resolution to address workplace bullying

NYS AFL-CIO Activing Lobbying to support workplace bullying legislation

United Transportation Union (UTU) activing lobbying to support workplace bullying legislation

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) recognizes general harassment, a.k.a., bullying as a form of workplace violence

The FBI considers bullying a form or workplace violence

Mission Statement

The New York Healthy Workplace Advocates is a grassroots organization of citizen lobbyists that seeks to introduce, support and pass legislation via the Healthy Workplace Bill that adequately addresses workplace bullying and psychological violence in the workplace as well as to educate employers and employees on the costs of harboring a workplace bully to create a “win-win” environment where the employer and employee can work together to meet organizational goals.

The Rich Picture

At present time, it is currently legal in the United States for an individual (usually a person in a supervisory role) to impair and/or destroy the physical and psychological well being of an employee, their social support network and career using an employers resources when a person is not a member of a protected status group. Current State and Federal laws only recognize an unlawful employment practice when a person is a member of a “protected status” group such as race, religious creed, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, martial status, sex age or sexual orientation and the employer or any person acting directly or indirectly as an agent of the employer harasses an employee. Why isn’t workplace bullying covered under current State of Federal law? Because the bully and the target are both members of a protected class, therefore the existing harassment laws are negated and the bully is free to impair the health of another person without ramifications. NYHWA and via the Healthy Workplace Bill seeks to expand current harassment law to make it an unlawful employment practice to subject an employee to an abusive workplace environment regardless of protected status membership or better defined as a “status-blind” harassment protection .

The Workplace Bullying Institute’s Definition of the Phenomenon

repeated mistreatment of one or more persons (the targets) by one or more perpetrators that takes one or more of the following forms: ·         verbal abuse or, ·         threatening, humiliating or offensive behavior/actions (verbal and nonverbal forms) or, ·         work interference -- sabotage -- which prevents work from getting done so severe that the mistreatment harms the health of the targeted person -- stress-related physical consequences or psychological/emotional injury -- or leads to economic harm through termination, demotion or denied promotions.

Workplace Bullying: (a) is driven by perpetrators' need to control the targeted individual(s) , (b) is initiated by bullies who choose targets, timing, place and methods, (c) escalates to involve others who side with the bully, either voluntarily through coercion, and it (d) undermines legitimate business interests when bullies' personal agendas take precedence over work itself. Bullying, general workplace harassment, is more prevalent than it’s more famous and illegal special varieties--sexual harassment and racial discrimination. A recent reliable study estimates that approximately 1 in 6 U.S. workers has directly experienced destructive bullying in the past year. (according to a year 2000 scientific sample of State of Michigan residents) Bullying transcends gender. Half of all bullies (58%) are women. Half of all bullying is woman-on-woman. Women comprise 80% of targets. The vast majority of bullies (71%) are bosses. [From WBI research surveys that can be reviewed along with research by others.]

Bullies bully because they can; they do so with impunity. The complex answer to why bullies bully can be reduced to 3 factors: (a) some workplaces pit worker against worker in zero-sum (cutthroat) competitive work arrangements, (b) Machiavellian types (who live to manipulate others to accomplish their own goals) see the opportunities, and (c) in bullying-prone workplaces, employers reward the aggression with promotions and rewards. Bullies are rarely psychopathic, but are always narcissistic and machiavellian.

Targethood hinges on two characteristics: a desire to cooperate and a non-confrontive interpersonal style. Bullying poses a serious health hazard to Targets by compromising their psychological and physical health, disassembling their social network and risking economic devastation through the loss of their jobs because "employment at will" encourages the bully's whimsical misuse of power. Targets who are most surprised by the baseless cruelty inflicted on them suffer the most severe effects (PTSD) and take the longest time to heal afterwards. Silent, frozen co-workers worsen the problem often by choosing to cut off support, to tacitly or directly join the bully's personal vendetta against the Target. Eventually, the workplace is paralyzed by fear, incapable of productive work, and susceptible to costly downtime with an unhealthy workforce and an increased liability for destructive employment practices.

Unlike cases involving violations of federally protected Civil Rights, bullied individuals in the U.S. and Canada today have few, mostly unsuccessful, avenues for legal redress. Beginning in 2003 in California, the Workplace Bullying Institute-driven Healthy Workplace Bill has been introduced in several states. It has not yet become a law.

 

 
Union support for Healthy Workplace Legislation in New York
 
Healthy Workplace Resolution
The Professional Staff Congress is the union that
represents more than 20,000 faculty and staff at the
City University of New York (CUNY).  It is dedicated
to advancing the professional lives of its members,
enhancing their terms and conditions of employment,
and maintaining the strength of the nation's largest,
oldest and most visible urban public university.
PSC issued a resolution to address workplace bullying
via legislation

Resolution Title: Resolution on Hostile Work Environments Due To Bullying and Abuse

Submitted by: Professional Staff Congress/CUNY

Whereas, civil rights legislation makes it illegal for an employer, or anyone acting as an agent of an employer, or a co-worker to abuse or harass any employee because of race, color, national origin, religion, disability, medical condition, martial status, sex, age, or sexual orientation; and

Whereas, the Workplace Bullying & Trauma Institute’s definition of bullying is the repeated, hurtful interpersonal mistreatment of a person (the target) by a perpetrator (the bully) through acts of commission (hostile verbal, nonverbal, communication and interfering actions) and omission (the withholding of resources – time, information, training, support, equipment –that guarantee failure); and

Whereas, civil rights legislation rightfully identified such behavior by supervisors or coworkers as discriminatory when used to maintain race, gender or other privileges within a given occupation; and

Whereas, studies have documented that between 16 and 21 percent of employees are victims of some form of harassment, abuse, or workplace bullying, and that such mistreatment is more prevalent than sexual harassment; and

Whereas, unless those who have been subjected to workplace bullying can demonstrate that the abusive treatment is because of their race, color, sex, national origin, age, sexual orientation or disability, they are unlikely to have any legal or other resource to redress such mistreatment; and

Whereas, an “abusive work environment” is one where an employee is subjected to repeated abuse that can cause physical and or psychological harm to the employee; and

Whereas, workers have the right to a hostility-free work environment that does not put their physical or mental health at risk and where everyone is treated with dignity and respect; and

Whereas, hostile workplaces are extremely costly to employers and employees in attrition, suck time and related health costs; and

Whereas, national experts on workplace bullying have identified the major health consequences for victims of abuse: 76% suffer from anxiety, stress and excessive worry; 71% experience loss of concentration; 71% suffer from disrupted sleep, 60% become edgy, irritable, easily startled and guarded; 52% become obsessive over work details; and 49% suffer from recurrent memories, nightmares and flashbacks; and

Whereas, union supporters or activists are sometimes targeted for such abuse by management in an effort to weaken the union, undermine employee solidarity or organizing drives; and

Whereas, managers must be held accountable if they abuse and harass staff or tolerate such behavior from others, and

Whereas, according to Workplace Bullying & Trauma Institute’s study, once targeted, bullied individuals face a 70% chance of losing their jobs; and

Whereas, bullies don’t work alone but in 77% of cases enlist co-workers to isolate the target; and

Whereas, bullying at the workplace occurs in both the private and the public sector; and

Whereas, bullying in the workplace and an abusive work environment has a chilling effect on many others not directly targeted undermining their work or teaching performance; and

Whereas, an increasing number of municipalities, communities, cities and states are considering anti-bullying legislation to insure that abuse and bullying are not tolerated at the workplace; therefore be it

Resolved, that NYSUT will work with its labor affiliates to develop legislation to prevent hostile work environments and provide enforceable remedies that will protect workers.

I hereby certify that the above resolution was approved for submission to the 2007 NYSUT Representative Assembly by the: Delegate Assembly at a meeting held on December 21, 2006

Signed: Local 2334  NYSUT Local  Professional Staff Congress

 

NYSUT: 

NYSUT is more than 585,000 people who work in, or are retired from, New York's schools, colleges, and healthcare facilities. We are classroom teachers, college and university faculty and professional staff, school bus drivers, custodians, secretaries, cafeteria workers, teacher assistants and aides, nurses and healthcare technicians.

NYSUT is a federation of more than 1,200 local unions, each representing its own members. We are affiliated with the merican Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA). We are also part of organized labor - the AFL-CIO - and of Education International, with more than 20 million members world wide. NYSUT issued a resolution to address workplace bullying via legislation


UTU (United Transportation Union):  We are the United Transportation Union (UTU), an AFL-CIO affiliate headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. We are a broad-based, transportation labor union representing about 125,000 active and retired railroad, bus and mass transit workers in the United States and Canada. Actively lobbying in NYS on workplace bullying legislation.

Business and Professional Women of New York State
(BPW/NYS):
Over two thousand women and men from 78 local organizations throughout New York State make up the membership of BPW/NYS. In 1919 a group of 100 women, representing various parts of the United States, founded the national organization of Business & Professional Women. These women met at the Hotel Pennsylvania in New York City to draw up permanent plans for the National Federation that was destined to be "not just another woman's
organization," but was to become, within a quarter of a century, one of the strongest sources of unified woman power in the nation.

Today, BPW/USA is one of the largest organizations for working women. With a powerful network of members and 2000 local organizations, it has a presence in each of the fifty states, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. BPW/NYS issued a resolution to address workplace bullying


AFL CIO-NYSL:
The New York State American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) is a voluntary federation of more than 3000 local unions. The AFL/CIO of NYS is actively lobbying on workplace bullying legislation in NY.

info@nyhwa.org  New York Coordinator