bullying is a type of violence in which a certain person humiliates, embarrasses, offends and attacks the dignity of another. Moral harassment at work consists of prolonged and repetitive exposure of workers to humiliating and embarrassing situations.
There is no specific legislation in the Brazilian Penal Code to deal with this type of psychological abuse. But, according to the Court, if it is proven that the worker is the target of psychological harassment, the accused will answer for crime of moral damages.
There can be several reasons for a person to be bullied at work, but one of the main causes is to force the employee giving up his job and resigning, as he would thus lose some rights related to indemnity, for example. It is worth remembering that bullying is not always intentional, but even so, this fact does not reduce the weight of the seriousness of this act.
bullying can cause psychological and physical harm to the person, the latter being the result of the great stress caused by constant humiliation and provocation. Panic syndrome, anxiety, gastric and emotional problems are some of the consequences that bullying can bring to the harassed person.
If someone is a victim of bullying, they should contact the company's Human Resources and report the situation. But, for this, it is convenient to gather evidence that proves the occurrence of this type of violence in the work environment, such as witnesses or recorded conversations.
If Human Resources does not take action in this regard, the person being harassed must file a complaint with the union or the Public Ministry.
It is noteworthy, however, that for bullying to occur, the harasser's actions must be constant and prolonged. If it is an isolated situation, it should not be treated as harassment.
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Examples of bullying at work
According to the Public Ministry of Labor, among the main complaints of psychological harassment are the following:
- Attributing imaginary errors to the worker;
- Giving wrong instructions to harm the worker;
- Criticism or bad "jokes" in public;
- Do not give any tasks;
- Imposing unjustified hours;
- Force the employee to be fired;
- Punish unfairly;
- Not transmitting the information necessary for the performance of the employee's activity;
- Public or private humiliation;
- Remove the employee's work instruments (computer, table, telephone, etc.), in order to embarrass him.
Types of bullying
In the workplace, there are usually three main types of harassment.
- Downward harassment: when someone in a superior hierarchical position tries, for many reasons, to harm his subordinate with actions that cause emotional imbalance and affect his dignity.
- Upward harassment: this is rarer as it consists of subordinates harassing their superiors. It usually consists of a group against the headship, not just a single individual.
- Peer Harassment: when a group harasses one of its members. The main cause for this type of harassment is to eliminate potential competitors for a certain position, for example.
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