The U.S. is one of the last industrialized nations to address workplace abuse (also known as bullying, moral harassment, psychological harassment, and power harassment).
So who’s already addressed it, and what do their laws do?
2001
Spain
2002
France
2003
Turkey
Three takeaways:
- They all call for employer accountability.
- They have had a positive impact on business goals.
- They have not resulted in a clogging of the courts.
In 2019, the International Labor Organization, an UN agency which promotes decent work for all people, passed the Violence and Harassment Convention. This convention sets international standards for preventing and responding to violence and harassment at work, including gender-based violence. Nineteen countries, including Italy, Greece, and Mexico as well as Great Britain and Spain, have ratified the convention and are bound to enforce it.
In 2020, Puerto Rico became the first U.S. territory to pass workplace anti-abuse legislation, the Law to Prohibit and Prevent Workplace Harassment.
Like international laws, the Puerto Rico law calls for prevention and elimination of abuse at work according to Article 5 of the law.
All Americans deserve a psychologically safe workplace, too.
Sources:
https://anannkefoundation.org/international-workplace-bullying-laws/
https://www.ilo.org/dyn/normlex/en/f?p=NORMLEXPUB:12100:0::NO::P12100_ILO_CODE:C190
Photo by Pixabay
