About 10 months ago, my wife came home and said something is wrong, our son doesn’t want to stay after school and play.

Initially, I thought nothing of it as he claimed it was because he liked our toilet paper more than the school’s toilet paper (fair argument). As time progressed, the desire to stay after school continued to drop, and his appearance looked disheveled, at best. My wife and I opted to volunteer at school and noticed signs of bullying happening to kids in his class. This discovery, and the lack of help received, led us to change schools.

Sadly, this is a story I’ve heard time and time again from my friends whose kids have dealt with in-person and online bullying.

Unfortunately, bullying does not stop when you graduate from school. According to the Workplace Bullying Institute nearly 80 million workers have been affected by workplace bullying. From that count:

• About 30 percent said they have personally experienced bullying, and an additional 19 percent said they have witnessed it.
• Remote workers were more likely to say they’ve been bullied (43 percent, with 50 percent occurring during online meetings and 9 percent through email).
• Sixty-five percent identified their boss as being a bully, 21 percent said a coworker was a bully, and 14 percent said a subordinate was a bully.

To make matters worse, many stuck in this situation are unable to just “move away” like we had the privilege of doing for my son. That begs the question, how can you overcome these sobering statistics? To help foster a healthy, safe and welcoming work environment, employers should consider creating robust policies that address abusive conduct. These policies provide concurrent benefits: (1) it strives to improve employee morale; and (2) it helps create a legal defense for when the bullying becomes illegal. (Any time that bullying relates to an employee’s protected characteristic, it could potentially lead to a claim under Title VII or other federal, state, or local anti-discrimination laws.)

While employment laws are not general civility codes, employers can establish their own guidelines and expectations (just be sure these rules don’t run afoul of applicable employment and labor laws, like the National Labor Relations Act). Outlined below are seven steps that employers can take to go beyond just checking a box for legal compliance, to create a healthy, vibrant, productive workplace culture, which could increase employee retention.

Focus on the Big Picture: Prioritize structural and systemic prevention of bullying. Systemic prevention is the cornerstone of building and maintaining healthy organizations.

Define Clear Expectations: Establish policies that clearly outline acceptable and unacceptable behavior. Use real-life examples relevant to the workplace to ensure everyone understands the boundaries.

Consistency is Key: Inconsistent enforcement of policies can undermine morale and reduce their effectiveness. Moreover, failing to apply rules uniformly can expose employers to legal risks.

Invest in Training: Consider integrating anti-bullying measures into your existing harassment prevention programs. In some states, like California, this is not just recommended but required for employers with 50 or more employees.

Create a Reporting Process: Employees need to feel comfortable raising concerns. The EEOC and the Oregon Workplace Fairness Act emphasizes that employers should establish clear reporting channels and ensure that staff know who to contact when issues arise.

Investigate Complaints Promptly and Thoroughly: Take every complaint seriously. Assign experienced personnel or teams to handle investigations, ensuring that all concerns are addressed with the appropriate level of care.

Regularly Assess Company Culture: Conduct ongoing evaluations of the organizational culture. This proactive approach can help detect early signs of toxicity, allowing for timely intervention.

As parents, my wife and I were fortunate enough to have the option to remove our son from a problematic environment and place him in a safer space where he has thrived. However, I recognize that for many, particularly in the workplace, this is not a viable solution. The pain of bullying, whether on the playground or in the office, can leave deep scars that affect a person’s well-being and expose companies to lawsuits.

By implementing these steps, employers can create a workplace where individuals feel valued and protected — a place where our children, as they grow into their careers, won’t have to relive the same painful experiences we hoped they would leave behind. But taking that first step is the key to building a culture of respect that endures, from the classroom to the boardroom.

Stephen Scott is a partner in the Portland office of Fisher Phillips, a national firm dedicated to representing employers’ interests in all aspects of workplace law. Contact him at 503-205-8094 or smscott@fisherphillips.com.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or completeness of any information published herein.

The post Lessons from the playground: Preventing workplace bullying | Opinion appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.

Working at a national firm has given me the opportunity to tell many of my clients that I can see the future of employment law. In reality, all I do is simply look to California to determine which employment protections or hot-button issues will come to Oregon within a year.

This year is different. Workplaces have been rocked with unprecedented turmoil as we navigate COVID-19 and the lasting impact of the social justice protest movement. One does not need to call Miss Cleo to guess that this presidential election could raise new concerns in the workplace.

To get ahead of such issues, consider the following common misconceptions, and advice for how to handle an employee’s complaints about politics.

Top misconception of employees: “I have free speech rights!”

Many employees believe they have “free speech rights” to speak their minds – including at work.

They are wrong. The First Amendment protects citizens against government action limiting
speech. For private employees, very little speech is protected. Government employees have
broader, but not unlimited, speech rights.

However, the First Amendment has no application to a private employer. A “private employer”
does not mean a privately held company – it means all nongovernment employers public, private
and not-for-profit. Employees of nongovernment employers do not have a “constitutional” right
to speak their minds about politics in the workplace. As a result, nongovernment employers may
generally regulate political expression as they would other forms of disruptive workplace
communication. Business owners, leaders and managers may address political discussion during
work time, even in the absence of potentially offensive content.

Top misconception of employers: “This is a nonunion workplace!”

A big surprise for many employers is that the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) applies to
an organization even if it has a nonunion workplace. Section 7 of the NLRA applies to all
employees in the private sector, regardless of their union or union-free status. The NLRA
recognizes that employers have a right to regulate speech during work time so long as that
regulation does not end up encroaching on employees’ Section 7 rights.

For an employer, the difficult task is determining the difference between speech that can be
regulated (such as a disruptive discussion about politics) and speech that cannot be regulated
because the subject matter has crossed the line into Section 7 territory. For example, a worker
may share news that a certain candidate pledged to raise the minimum wage. The employee may
chat up co-workers about the news in a way that touches on their own workplace scenario. That
conversation may constitute Section 7 activity if there is evidence that the issue at hand
establishes a shared concern. Such discussions may blur the line between political speech and
protected speech.

As if blurry rules were not enough of a challenge, NLRA protection also extends to taking time
off work to attend rallies or protesting when there is a tie to work-related issues such as pay
equality. NLRA protection further extends to organized activity in support of another employer’s workers (such as the living wage movement) and appeals to legislators when connected to
working conditions.

Mutual misconception: “Just vote, or just vote the right way.”

Some employers take a proactive (or some might say offensive) approach by encouraging
employees to vote, while some employees may ask to share the “get out the vote” message.

Simple encouragement to vote is low-risk for the employer, but officials should ask workers to
seek company permission before sharing even a neutral “vote” message.

Some employers go as far as suggesting how employees should vote based on the potential
business impacts. This is a dangerous choice, and a line that employers should resist crossing,
because it is always illegal to coerce an employee to vote a certain way.

Because the line between a recommendation and coercion is thin (when someone is dependent on
the company for his or her livelihood), employers should err on the side of caution. Never fire or
take any adverse action against an employee in connection with voting, and actively avoid the
appearance of coercion.

And when the inevitable happens …

When receiving an employee’s complaint about politics, political issues or voting, be ready to
respond appropriately. Track, document and investigate complaints. Make sure the employee
who made the complaint receives status updates on the investigation. This is not the time to think
“this will be over in November and everything will go back to normal.” Consider whether
company policies have been violated and determine the appropriate response. Remember: not
responding is never the appropriate response.

Employers should plan in advance how to address political workplace activity such as: sporting
apparel buttons (or stickers) that champion causes or support candidates, conducting get-out-the-
vote campaigns, extending invitations to political candidates to visit the office or co-workers to
attend partisan events, promoting co-workers who are political candidates, engaging in coffee
break discussions about the latest sound bite or debate, handing out bumper stickers, sharing
political memes or jokes or banter, posting on social media, launching charitable campaigns with
inadvertent ties to political issues, and a whole host of similar activity. Be sure front-line
managers are trained and equipped to manage such issues or trained to refer these matters to a
designated response team. And come Election Day, be prepared for reduced productivity.

A pandemic, racial tension, concerns about inaccurate news, and fears of election fraud may
make workplace issues seem trivial – but just wait until it’s your workplace. Employers should
anticipate election-related issues to arise in their workplaces regardless of whether they remain
virtual, never close, or fall somewhere in between. Now is the time to consider training
supervisors and developing an action plan. And above all else, be mindful that Oregon
specifically prohibits employers from penalizing employees for refusing to attend meetings
intended to allow the employer to communicate its political or religious opinions.

Stephen Scott is an associate in the Portland office of Fisher Phillips, a national firm dedicated to
representing employers’ interests in all aspects of workplace law. Contact him at 503-205-8094
or smscott@fisherphillips.com.

The opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed in the preceding commentary are those of the
author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints of the Daily Journal of Commerce or its editors. Neither the author nor the 91��Ƶ guarantees the accuracy or
completeness of any information published herein.

The post OP-ED: Advice for managing workplaces during election season appeared first on Daily Journal of Commerce.