BULLYING doesn’t just happen in schools. It can also happen in office settings when bosses or co-workers repeatedly use words and actions to torment employees. 

Because of the harm this poses, Sen. Raffy Tulfo has proposed the approval of a measure that will define office bullying and require workplaces to act against it.

Tulfo’s bill, filed late last month, seeks to mandate offices in the government and the private sectors to establish and implement policies and measures to effectively address bullying and other similar acts in the workplace.  

It also states that bullying should be met with disciplinary administrative action, or reported to a law enforcement agency if the administrative officer believes the perpetrator did something criminal. 

This issue should be addressed because bullying and harassment “can likewise be detrimental to the professional growth and career of the victims,” said Tulfo.

“Needless to say, it is imperative for employers to ensure the physical, mental, and emotional well-being of their employees at their workplace,” the former TV host turned Senator said in his explanatory note. 

What’s considered office bullying? 

Tulfo’s bill defines office bullying as any severe or repeated use by one or more employees of a written, verbal or electronic expression, or a physical act or gesture, or any combination thereof, directed at an employer, co-employee, or any person with whom he or she has professional relations or dealings, that causes or places the latter in reasonable fear of physical or emotional harm or damage to property.

These also create a hostile work environment for the employer, employee, or worker, and infringes on the rights of another at the work premises. These likewise disrupt the orderly operation of an office, the bill states. 

The actions that can be classified as bullying are:

• Any act that causes physical or bodily harm
• Any act that causes harm to a victim’s psyche or emotional or moral well-being
• Any slanderous accusation or statement that causes the victim undue emotional distress, such as directing four language or profanity at the target, name-calling, and commenting negatively on the victim’s looks, clothes, and body
• Cyber bullying or any bullying done through electronic means

Other abusive acts

The bill also seeks to prohibit the following acts:

• Offering, publishing, or spreading rumors or false information against an employer, co-employee, or any person with whom he or she has business dealings
• Disrespecting and devaluing them through the use of words
• Management by threat and intimidation
• Stealing credit and taking an unfair advantage of an employer, co-employee, or any person with whom he or she has business dealings
• Preventing their access to workplace, career, and office opportunities

An action will be considered abusive if it destroys or undermines the character, image, status, morale, reputation, and credibility of an employer, co-employee, or any person with whom he or she has business dealings, the bill says.

The same goes if the action discredits, destroys, or undermines their work and causes divisive effects among employers, employees, officers, and other members of the organization, it adds.

What offices should do

The bill states that offices should establish clear procedures and policies on reporting the prohibited acts and investigating these.

They must also have mechanisms to protect the person who reports the prohibited acts. 

It says as well that anonymous reporting should be allowed, but the disciplinary action should not be based solely on this.

Those who unknowingly make false accusations should also be subjected to disciplinary action, it states.  

If it is determined that bullying took place, the administrative officers or human relations officers should notify the law enforcement agency if they believe the perpetrator should face criminal charges.They may also take appropriate disciplinary administrative action. 

The Department of Labor and Employment and Civil Service Commission will be tasked to promulgate the implementing rules and regulations if this measure becomes a law.