There are many companies where complaints about workplace bullying and harassment do not receive appropriate attention. All employees should know that there are things employees can do in such situations.

It is absolutely important for all employers to make sure they have adequate well-documented processes and procedures to follow up on complaints from employees about workplace bullying and harassment. If all employees are made aware of these policies and procedures and if the employer does follow up diligently as per the company guidelines, then they will be able to maintain a positive work environment. On the other hand, if the employers either do not have appropriate policies and guidelines or do not follow them when they receive complaints, then the work environment will only become more and more negative.

On the other side, for all employees it is extremely important to maintain detailed documentation of any negative incidents they had to encounter and what they had done about it. If they decided to put in a complaint to the employer, then it is important to keep track of all documentation of what the complaint was about, when was it filed, who received the complaint and what, if anything, happened after the complaint was received by the employer. Documentation of this nature will be very useful if it becomes necessary for the employees to take the matter to an external authority like a state government department or if it goes further and becomes a legal matter. A mentor had advised me about this several years back and I found it to be extremely useful and effective.

Whenever a person is subjected to sustained maltreatment, it is almost certain to impact the person’s mental health. That is why it is not a surprise that bullying can have long term psychological impact on victims.

Bullying is a form of abuse – and any type of consistent abuse over a sustained period of time can result in mental health impact for victims. In my specific case, my OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) was triggered because of bullying I had encountered during my school years. Interestingly it started impacting me significantly after the actual bullying had generally ended. In other words, even though the actual bullying had gradually stopped, my OCD took over as the internal bully and continued the torture. This has had a long term impact on my life.

Children who do the bullying often do not understand what kind of long-term impact their actions can cause for the victims. After many of my presentations at various schools, many “bullies” who attended the presentations, came up to me later and told me that they never knew how much long term impact it can have on victims and that they decided to stop the bullying thereafter. I was delighted to hear this from some of the school bullies and was extremely happy about the impact of my presentation on these young people.

It was also clear to me that many school staff members around the nation are not able to find a way to explain this issue to all children so they will all understand how devastating bullying can be. Children are often thinking of “here and now” – it is important that the school staff take the responsibility to explain to them that their negative behavior can impact someone else for many years to come.

Employees perform their best in a rewarding and encouraging environment. Bullying and harassment in the workplace by a supervisor or a manager is never a good approach for sustained positive results.

A lot of managers and/or supervisors have this misconception that the only way to get employees to work hard and produce results is to control them with bullying and harassment. They may have some success with a few employees, but for a vast majority of employees this approach simply does not work. Making employees feel bad about themselves do not typically make them work harder or make them more productive.

All employees are aware that they get paid because of the work they do. It is not difficult for them to understand that if their performance is not satisfactory, there may be some consequences. It is the job of a manager to help each employee reach his or her potential through an appropriate supportive approach. It is important to have frequent communications with the employees so the manager can truly understand the problems faced by the different employees and then provide appropriate assistance so the employees can succeed. There can always be a few employees who simply do not want to work hard and perform well. But most employees want to do a good job and want to succeed for the company they are working for. If the managers can help them in a supportive manner (rather than in an abusive manner) most employees will succeed and that will only make the company more successful.

Many schools around the country have started educating all students about the role of bystanders in prevention of bullying. This is an extremely important program that should be implemented by all schools.

Bystanders can play a significant role either in promoting bullying or in preventing bullying. In my own situation, one of the worst bullies had described to me (later in adulthood) that he was not getting the support and recognition within the school community that he would have liked. So he turned to bullying because he noticed that people laughed and encouraged his actions, thereby improving his self-esteem, and he felt that he then had a recognized place in the school community. He was then known for “something” instead of just another insignificant kid in the school community.

This revealing discussion clearly indicates the significant role a bystander can have in encouraging bullying. In fact, even if the bystander does not laugh or visibly encourage the actions, just by being there and witnessing it and not saying anything causes the bully to continue his/her irresponsible behavior. Of course it would be best if a bystander can step in and try to prevent the negative behavior – but as a minimum a bystander must not laugh or encourage the actions and should simply go away from the area and report it to the school authorities.

The overall impact of bullying will not be as serious if the bystanders do not encourage the actions of the bully. That is why it is so important for all school children to learn that bystanders do play a significant role in prevention of bullying.

If a company does not do anything to appropriately investigate and follow through on complaints of bullying and harassment at the workplace, then it is creating a negative work environment that can be harmful to the company in many different ways.

If an employee complains about one or more incidents of workplace bullying and harassment, and the company does not do any kind of honest investigation or follow through, then they will have an unhappy employee, and that is how a negative work environment starts to develop.  With one or more unhappy employees productivity eventually suffers and that can impact the company negatively.

The company can of course choose to terminate the employee who had put in the complaint. But then again, a sudden departure of an employee is not a morale booster. Also, word will be out that the employee was fired because of the complaints he or she had made regarding bullying and harassment in the workplace. That can also tarnish the reputation of the company.

In addition the company may have to face a wrongful termination lawsuit, which could be expensive for the company. It is true that companies can terminate any employees at will, without having to give any reasons for why the employee was terminated. But if there is documentation available showing the history of complaints followed by lack of any reasonable actions by the company, then there is a reasonable chance that the company might lose the lawsuit. That is exactly what happened in my case that I describe in my book “How to stand up to workplace bullying and take on an unjust employer.” I fought back against the company after being terminated and won my case.

After speaking with many people across the country I am of the opinion that being bullied on a consistent basis causes mental health issues for most victims. Some lucky ones might be able to get away with minimal impact, but many others suffer long lasting impact.

It is clear that bullying has a significant impact on the psyche of a person. It consistently attacks the self-image of the victim. The bully exerts control over the victim and makes him/her feel terrible about themselves. On top of that, quite often, there are bystanders who laugh at these incidents, providing more fuel to the fire. When bystanders either laugh and encourage or don’t do anything at all, the bullies feel supported and continue their bad behavior.

In situations like these, the victims badly need support from school officials who are typically right there at the schools when the bullying takes place. The victims need support right then and there. School officials must intervene and find a way to stop the bullying as soon as possible. And then, the school officials must provide support to the victims so they are not left alone to face the impact of these incidents all by themselves. If school mental health staff (such as psychologists and social workers) can work with the victims at times like these, then it is possible that the eventual mental health impact on the victims will not be as severe.

School officials must also work with the bullies to help them address their own issues and get them to discontinue their bullying behavior. Quite often, bullies have their own issues at home that play out with them acting out as bullies at schools. If they too get appropriate and timely help, schools can eventually eliminate bullying.

No organizations should be allowed to ignore complaints of workplace bullying by any employees. Each and every complaint must be investigated thoroughly and an appropriate plan of action must be implemented.

It is extremely important for an organization to maintain a serious approach when dealing with bullying or harassment in the workplace. A company needs to make it clear to all its employees that workplace bullying and/or harassment will not be tolerated. And then, it needs to set up a written and published policy about how complaints of this nature will be handled. This policy should specify how each and every complaint will be investigated and how the results of the investigation will be communicated and acted upon.

For example, if an employee puts in a complaint of bullying/harassment in the workplace, it will then be very important for the company to conduct a thorough investigation, as per the company policy, and then communicate and take appropriate actions. It might turn out that the complaint was simply a misunderstanding – but even then it is important for the company to maintain appropriate records and communicate with the individuals concerned. In case it turns out to be a valid complaint, then an action plan needs to be established and communicated to the appropriate individuals. The resulting plans may include various levels of actions such as improved communication plans, better training, reassignment of individuals, etc, or even disciplinary actions if appropriate.

The bottom line is that if a company (small or large) has a well-established process and follows through appropriately, then it will likely have a satisfied set of employees and consequently better overall performance.

Pandemic or not, sexual predators are still out there trying to find their next victims. We all need to be careful and continue to keep a close eye on possible red flags.

This is a difficult time for everyone. Most children are stuck at home, with their family members, with closed schools and closed playgrounds. This can be stressful for everyone, adults as well as children. In spite of having to deal with this stressful time, the adults must keep in mind that sexual predators are still out there and we must continue to make sure that the children are not at risk.

Since the children are mostly stuck at home, the danger from outside is certainly minimized because the children are not spending a lot of time with outsiders. However, the dangers indoors can also be significant. First of all, children are likely to spend a lot more time online, exposing themselves to online predators. With the parents being extremely busy and stressed, it might be difficult to monitor everything the children are doing online.

Secondly, significant exposure to family members can also create risk for the children. It is well known that in many cases of child sexual abuse, the abuser is often a close family friend or a family member. With several family members stuck in the house for many days, there can be increased risks for the children.

The main point is that just because the children are not going outdoors a lot these days, does not mean the risks have gone away. Therefore, in spite of having to deal with the added stress of being stuck at home, we need to continue to remain vigilant about children’s safety.

I met many children around the country who were eager to talk to me about their mental health issues. This was an encouraging sign. I have tried my best to make sure school staff are able to follow up with parents to provide appropriate professional help.

Young children are often not able to express how they might be feeling. Children in middle schools or in high schools, often know that something is not right, but they worry about the stigma and decide not to disclose their issues to adults around them. I had experienced the same thing myself. My OCD started when I was 16 years old, but I kept it hidden from everyone until I was 21. That simply delayed the start of my treatment by 5 years.

That is why it is quite encouraging when some children come up to me and share their issues with me. This typically happens soon after one of my presentations. After listening to me they realize that there is no stigma attached to discussing openly about mental health issues and receive appropriate treatment as necessary. Also, they realize that if they share their issues with me, they will not be judged.

Anytime a child has come up to me and talked to me about his or her issues, I always made sure that some adults around them (such as school staff) are aware of the issues so they can work with the parents to check this out for the child. Most children feel relieved when they know that their issues are out in the open, in the hands of caring adults who will not judge them for these issues. I know I felt tremendous relief when I finally opened up and found that everything would be fine – it’s just an illness that needed to be treated.

 Many states are starting to reopen a bit with thousands of employees going back to work. My best wishes to all of them – I hope they will all find their workplaces safe and positive. This is a stressful time for everyone. I hope all managers and supervisors will be supportive.

All the places that are starting to reopen are having to deal with new conditions and regulations to keep everyone safe from getting infected by COVID-19. They all seem to be focusing on maintaining at least 6ft distance between workers, utilizing appropriate protective equipment, such as masks, etc, disinfecting work surfaces/equipment on a regular basis, and making sure that customers also follow appropriate procedures. This is the only way states can try to reopen some of the businesses. This is all new to everyone involved, but there does not seem to be any other way, until a vaccine or a reliable cure has been developed.

In spite of all these precautions, it will still be a difficult adjustment for many employees. This will continue to be an extremely stressful situation until it has been proven beyond reasonable doubts that these precautions are keeping everyone safe. Once we see that because of all these precautions, the case numbers are starting to go downwards rather than upwards, most people will start to feel better about the situation. Most people can get used to all these new precautions as long as they can be somewhat certain that they will be safe. That is why it is all the more important now for employers to remain extremely supportive and understanding of the concerns of the employees.