There Ought To Be A Bill!!

Here Is What We Propose:

We are proposing a new approach to regulating Workplace Bullying called the Workplace Bullying Accountability Act that contains the following features, which we have learned from feedback from the various involved stakeholders. Here is what we believe would make this a better bill than our previous editions of our proposals for a bill to be taken up with the California State Legislature:

1. Contractual duty — The new Workplace Bullying Accountability Act (WBAA) creates a contractual duty of care for employers to take reasonable measures to prevent and respond to workplace bullying.

2. Definition — The WBAA uses a definition of workplace bullying built around the HWB's (Healthy Workplace Bill (our previous proposal)) conceptualization of an abusive work environment. However, unlike the HWB, it does not require a showing of intent.

3. Duty to prevent — Employers can meet their preventive duty of care by creating workplace antibullying policies and procedures for reporting, as well as engaging in annual employee education. Most employers can seamlessly integrate these elements into current HR (Human Resources) practices concerning sexual harassment.

4. Duty to respond — Employers can meet their responsive duty of care by following their policies and procedures, providing relief for workers who have been subjected to bullying, and instituting remedial and disciplinary measures for offending employees. When an employer offers relief to a bullied employee, that employee has a duty to reasonably evaluate the response.

5. Legal claim — When the employer fails to meet its contractual duty of care, an employee may file a lawsuit for breach of that duty. Because the legal duty is contractual, tort remedies for severe emotional distress and punitive damages are not included.

6. Retaliation — The WBAA also includes stand-alone protections against retaliation, which can serve as an independent legal claim.

7. Primary goal of prevention and internal resolution — The WBAA is designed to encourage prevention and prompt internal resolution, with litigation as a last resort. While some want workplace anti-bullying laws to allow multiple avenues for aggressive litigation seeking significant damages, this bill implicitly recognizes that employment lawsuits delivering huge settlements and verdicts are very rare, even when big awards are legally possible. In addition, these lawsuits can go on for years, proving to be a miserable experience for everyone regardless of the results.

8. HR and CBA(Collective Bargaining Agreement) friendly — It is both HR and CBA friendly, in that it is also designed to fit comfortably with current HR policies and can be adapted easily into CBA grievance and arbitration procedures.

9. Nod to employer criticisms of HWB -- The WBAA also responds to employer-side criticism of the HWB in terms of opening doors to litigation, by taking emotional distress and punitive damages off the table. Granted that change will not be welcomed by advocates who have criticized the HWB

10. Nod to advocates' criticisms of HWB — Nevertheless, the WBAA responds to advocates' criticism by not requiring a showing of intent to prove a claim (unlike the HWB), and by expressly requiring policies, procedures, and training -- measures only implicitly required in the HWB.

For More Information on the Workplace Bullying Accountability Act go to https://bullyfree-workplace.org