Workplace Bullying

     Workplace bullying is on the rise.  It isn't something new; it's just becoming more prevalent.  According to a CareerBuilder study, 35 percent of workers said they felt bullied from work.  Last year, only 27 percent had felt this way.

     So who is doing the bullying?  According to the study, most who felt bullied pointed to incidents with their bosses (48 percent) or co-workers (45 percent).  Thirty-one percent felt bullied by customers, and 26 percent by someone higher up in the company other than their boss.  Also, fifty-four percent of those bullied said the bully was someone older than them, while twenty-nine percent said the person was younger.

     So what type of bullying are we seeing?  We're seeing employees falsely accused of mistakes, being ignored, having different standards or policies used towards them than other workers, being constantly criticized, being yelled at by their boss in front of co-workers, having belittling comments made about them about their work at meetings, being gossiped about, having their bosses assign their tasks to other workers, being excluded from projects or meetings, and being picked on for personal attributes.

     According to the study, many of those bullied confronted their bully or spoke with human resources about the incidents.  Unfortunately, for some of those bullied, the situation got worse or human resources did nothing.  But remember, unless you report the incident, there may be no chance that the bullying will ever stop, so reporting the incidents and bully is the best solution.

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If you are the subject of discrimination or harassment in the workplace, contact Ambuter Law for a free confidential consultation.

Discrimination Against Mothers in the Workplace

     Increasingly, mothers in the workplace are becoming the subject of discrimination.  This type of discrimination is called maternal wall bias.  What exactly is maternal wall bias?  Maternal wall bias can take many different forms.

• Prescriptive bias involves "should" statements, such as "now that you're a mother, you should be working part-time and taking care of your children, instead of working here full-time."
• Benevolent prescriptive bias is less obvious.  For example, if a husband and wife are working for the same company and the employer sends the wife home early to take of the children, yet makes the husband work long hours because he has a family to take care of, then this would be considered benevolent prescriptive bias.
• Descriptive bias is the most subtle of the three.  Descriptive bias stems not from the assumption about how people should act, but rather from assumptions about they will act.  An example would be if a mother went part-time, yet every time she was away from her desk her co-workers would assume she was at home with her children, rather than in a meeting. 

     One quirk about this type of discrimination: maternal wall bias cases often involve discrimination by women against women.  Researchers have discovered that female supervisors, who are mothers, expect their female employees, who are mothers, to "suck it up," often because female supervisors had to in their own personal work situations.

     Furthermore, if a woman has a child, her chances of being hired fall by 79%, she is 50% as likely to be promoted as a childless woman, and her salary offer, on average, will be reduced by $11,000.00.

     So what can be done to prevent maternal wall bias?  For one, create awareness of the problem by creating and implementing training programs to prevent maternal wall bias in the workplace.  Managers and co-workers also need to leave their personal opinions at home.  Also employers should ask mothers what they want, rather than withhold opportunities until it's "a good time."


If you are facing this type of discrimination in the workplace, please contact Ambuter Law.

What do I do if I am being Harassed and/or Discriminated Against at Work?

No one thinks that they are going to be the subject of harassment and/or discrimination – especially at the work place.  Unfortunately, it happens every day.  Here are a few things you need to do to ensure that you are protecting yourself.
 

      1)      Contact human resources in writing.  Many employees who are the subject of harassment or discrimination fear that they will be retaliated against if they contact human resources.  While this can happen in certain instances, you still need to contact human resources and make them aware of the harassment and/or discrimination.  Also, this needs to be done in writing, whether via email or a certified letter.

2)      Contact your company’s ethics' hotline (if there is one).  A lot of companies today have implemented what is called an “ethics' hotline.”  Many times, employees can call the ethics' hotline and report incidences of harassment and/or discrimination anonymously.  This is a great resource for employees to use if they fear retaliation.

3)      Keep a journal notating the harassment and/or discrimination.  While this may sound silly, this is a great way for employees to notate specific incidences of harassment and/or discrimination that occur on certain occasions.  If an employee has kept an accurate journal or log of events, it can be a great source to show the frequency and severity of the harassment and/or discrimination.  Just make sure that you are writing your entries down when you are off the clock.

If you are the subject of harassment and/or discrimination in the workplace, please visit www.ambuterlaw.com for your free case evaluation.