Workplace Bullying Laws: What HR Managers Need to Know

While we might associate bullying with classrooms, school hallways and playgrounds, it’s not restricted to specific premises or age groups. Indeed, it can extend to all aspects of life, including at home and even the workplace.

One thing is certain, though: bullying — wherever it takes place — isn’t tolerated.

As an employer or a representative of your company, it is your responsibility — nay your duty — to identify instances of workplace bullying and address them before they escalate to the point that a toxic workplace flourishes and top-tier talent starts exiting.

In this guide, we’ll explore what workplace bullying is and the many forms it takes, as well as the laws you should be aware of and practical tips for creating a safer work environment.

What is workplace bullying?

Workplace bullying refers to the persistent mistreatment, intimidation or alienation of an employee (or group of employees) by another individual (or group of individuals) within the workplace. It can occur in person or through electronic channels, like emails or instant messages.

What’s important to note is that anyone can be a victim and anyone can be a bully. It could involve an employee bullying a peer, a manager intimidating an employee or, admittedly to a lesser extent, an employee threatening a manager.

How does it differ from harassment?

While workplace bullying and harassment are both objectionable behaviors, they aren’t the same thing — even though there is some overlap between the two, and the terms are often considered synonymous by some commentators. Indeed, bullying usually involves psychological or emotional abuse, whereas harassment is often physical in nature (such as sexual harassment).

We’ll explore the key differences between bullying and harassment below:

Aspect	Bullying	Harassment
Definition	Repeated, unreasonable actions intended to intimidate, degrade or humiliate a worker	Unwelcome behavior based on a protected characteristic, such as race, gender or sexual orientation
Focus	Behavior is typically not related to protected characteristics	Focused on discrimination related to protected characteristics
Blatancy vs covertness	Often covert (including subtle behaviors like exclusion) but can be overt (such as public criticism)	More likely to be overt (such as offensive comments) but can also be covert (such as implicit bias)
Intent	May or may not involve intent to discriminate; often about power imbalance	Involves intent or effect of discrimination against a group or individual
Intent vs perception	Focus is often on the behavior itself and its impact, regardless of intent	Legal cases often consider both intent and perception of harm
Frequency	Must involve repeated behavior over time to qualify as bullying	Can occur as a single incident or a pattern of behavior
Legal recognition	Specific anti-bullying laws are rare in many jurisdictions but are gaining attention	Well-defined under civil rights and anti-discrimination laws
Cultural sensitivity	Can vary significantly by workplace culture	Universally condemned and legally defined across most workplace environments

Types of workplace bullying

Workplace bullying can take many forms, whether blatantly or covertly, including:

• Insulting, yelling, belittling or making offensive comments to humiliate someone, often in front of others
• Deliberately excluding someone from team meetings, decision-making processes, social events or other work-related functions
• Spreading rumors or gossip about someone
• Intentionally withholding information, support or resources that are necessary for someone to complete their tasks effectively
• Verbally intimidating or threatening someone (including threats of demotions)
• Physically intimidating someone (such as shoving them or invading their personal space)
• Calling out someone’s mistakes or shortcomings in demeaning way in front of others
• Constantly criticizing someone’s work without offering constructive feedback or recognizing their efforts
• Micromanaging or otherwise controlling every aspect of someone’s work in a way that undermines their autonomy or confidence
• Setting unrealistic expectations and deadlines for one person compared to others

The effects of workplace bullying

Workplace bullying can not only be damaging to the victim, but also to the entire team and even organization. Here’s how:

Psychological and emotional impact

Victims of bullying, both in and out the workplace, often experience intense psychological and emotional distress. This can lead to chronic anxiety, low self-esteem as well as depression. In severe cases, meanwhile, it can even lead to PTSD-like symptoms.

Physical health issues

Even when workplace bullying isn’t physical, it can cause all sorts of physical health issues for victims. Indeed, they may experience headaches, insomnia, high blood pressure, digestive issues and even cardiovascular issues. They’re also likely to develop a weakened immune system.

Job performance decline

Beyond the impact that workplace bullying has on victims’ physical and mental health, it can also affect their productivity and overall job performance. As they will feel constantly in danger of being bullied again, they will lose their ability to focus and complete their tasks effectively.

Career consequences

If there is one thing that workplace bullies are good at, it’s undermining their victims’ reputation, which can affect their career growth and future opportunities within your organization.

Organizational impact

Workplace bullying, when left unaddressed, can seriously affect your organization’s culture, reputation and even bottom line. It will inevitably lead to widespread dissatisfaction and decreased employee morale, as well as a lack of trust in leadership. Ultimately, it becomes impossible to retain employees.

Workplace bullying laws

Sadly, there is no federal law in the US that explicitly prohibits workplace bullying. However, some states have enacted laws or introduced legislation that address workplace bullying or related issues to various degrees.

Here’s an overview:

State	Law/Requirement
California	Employers with 50+ employees must provide abusive conduct training
Tennessee	Employers are encouraged to adopt an anti-bullying policy
Utah	Employers are encouraged to adopt workplace bullying prevention policies

Meanwhile, the Healthy Workplace Bill, which was developed in 2001 with the aim to “prevent and correct abusive work environments in American workplaces”, has been introduced — but not yet enacted — by 32 states in the US, including Hawaii, New York, Oklahoma, Texas and Washington.

That said, employees are protected from workplace harassment by broader legislation:

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

The Civil Rights Act protects employees against discrimination based on certain characteristics, including race, sex and religion. Title VII, specifically, prohibits employers from discriminating employees regarding any term, condition or privilege of employment, and applies to employers with 15+ employees, as well as federal governments, employment agencies and labor organizations.

Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967

The ADEA protects employees and applicants aged 40 and over from discrimination based on their age in, among other things, hiring, , promotion, and terms and conditions of employment.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990

The ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in several areas, including employment. It applies to employers with 15+ employees, as well as employment agencies and labor organizations. It covers both physical and mental conditions, which do not need to be severe or permanent.

How to tackle workplace bullying

As we’ve seen, workplace bullying can cause irreparable damage to your organization and, more importantly, the victim. To ensure this doesn’t happen, and to tackle workplace bullying head on, it’s a good idea to follow these simple tips and best practices:

1. Establish an anti-bullying policy

One of the very first steps you can take to tackle workplace bullying is to establish a clear, well-defined anti-bullying policy, which should be incorporated into your company’s employee handbook or otherwise made readily available to staff.

This should outline what workplace bullying is and what it constitutes, along with examples, as well as reporting procedures and channels, investigation processes, and accountability measures.

2. Conduct regular training

Whether or not you’re based in a state or country where companies are “encouraged” to provide anti-bullying training, it’s a good idea that you do so nonetheless to ensure a diverse and inclusive work environment.

At the very least, you should provide relevant training once a year with periodic refresher courses throughout the year, particularly when laws and policies and updated.

Training should include real-world examples of workplace bullying, the policies and procedures your company has in place for tackling workplace bullying, and bystander intervention.

3. Encourage reporting

To successfully tackle workplace bullying, it’s essential that employees (victims or witnesses) feel safe in reporting incidents.

You can achieve this through various methods, including by outlining clear reporting procedures, ensuring confidentiality, adopting (and enforcing) a no-retaliation policy, and soliciting anonymous feedback about the overall workplace culture.

4. Provide support systems

Victims of workplace bullying should have multiple avenues for reporting incidents (whether it’s through an anonymous hotline or directly to the HR department), but they should also be offered various support systems.

This can include counseling and support services through employee assistance programs, support groups, mediation services, and company-wide wellness initiatives.

5. Investigate all complaints

Finally, it’s crucial that you take all complaints of workplace bullying seriously and investigate them promptly and thoroughly.

This begins with assigning a neutral investigator who will gather evidence, conduct interviews with victims, witnesses and (alleged) offenders, and take appropriate action (such as warnings, mandatory training or termination). It’s important to communicate outcomes to the complainant and to keep them updated throughout the process.

Frequently asked questions

Still have questions relating to workplace bullying left unanswered? Check out these FAQs:

Key takeaways

Here’s a recap of what we covered in this guide:

• Workplace bullying refers to the repeated and unreasonable behavior directed to an employee or a group of employees.
• Both employees and managers can be victims of bullies.
• When left unaddressed, it can negatively impact victims’ psychological, emotional and physical health, while it can also create a toxic work culture.
• There is no federal law that prohibits workplace bullying, but some states have adopted appropriate legislature, while others have introduced relevant bills.
• Workplace bullying can be tackled by establishing an anti-bullying policy, conducting regular training and investigating all complaints.

Got a question, or want to share your tips and strategies on preventing and dealing with workplace bullying? Let us know in the comments section below.