Over 1 in 3 Workers Said They’ve Been Bullied at Work

The problem of bullying and mental stress among medical workers is not new in Malaysia, but it only recently received adequate attention from the relevant authorities shortly after the death of a trainee doctor in Penang, which was linked to bullying.

The Health Ministry has also established a task force, the Healthcare Work Culture Improvement Task Force, to investigate complaints of toxic work culture in the ministry's healthcare facilities.

 

Research on workplace bullying

Based on the research finding on workplace bullying among junior doctors in Malaysia performed by researchers from the Faculty of Medicine of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), and Universiti Malaya (UM), at least one out of every ten young doctors believed they were being bullied at work.

The findings, which were published in The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences (MJMS) last year, also detailed the types of bullying encountered by participants.

The top five types include:

• Being ridiculed or humiliated in relation to work,

• Being demanded to do work below the level of competence,

• Being yelled at or being the target of spontaneous outrage,

• Being pressured not to claim something they were entitled to, and

• Having main areas of responsibility removed or substituted with unpleasant or trivial tasks.

What's astounding is that they did not only face bullying from their superiors (consultants and medical officers), but about 31% of participants said they were also bullied by nurses and support staff. 

 

The hospital is not the only place with workplace bullying

Workplace bullying occurs not only in the healthcare industry but also in other employment sectors.

A survey done by Chan et al. from May to July 2017 comprising 5,235 respondents from 47 corporate organisations in Malaysia indicated that 39.1 per cent of respondents, or more than one in every three employees, has experienced workplace bullying.

It is significantly higher than the reported global workplace bullying prevalence rate of about 15% in developed and developing nations.

Workplace bullying has a negative impact on employees' emotional and physical well-being, resulting in poor job performance, decreased quality and productivity at the organisational level as it affects not only the victim but also the workgroup.

Verbal abuse is the most common kind of bullying. Verbal abuse is not punishable by law in Malaysia. It is only punishable when the aggressor threatens to cause bodily harm or unlawful damage to the property of others.

Bullied victims can seek redress through various channels, including complaining to the appropriate human resource unit or filing a report with the Ministry Of Human Resources, which can launch an investigation according to the Employment Act 1955, Industrial Relations Act 1967, or Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994.

Unfortunately, many people opt to suffer in silence because they fear losing their jobs.

 

Of course, there is no such thing as a stress-free job. However, employers and workers must at least attempt to build a conducive work environment where everyone can feel safe, comfortable and protected to carry out their everyday duties.

Source: New Straits Times