Prevention of Bullying Situations in the Workplace

Abstract

This work will particularly focus on the phenomenon of bullying in the workplace, and the misfortune that haunts victims of bullying. In many workplaces, victims of bullying lose their jobs, increase the number of absences or resign. Bullying in the workplace is also associated with loss of self-confidence and self-control. Also other problems related to bullying in the workplace are problems with stress, health problems. The results provide data-driven recommendations to facilitate HR staff to design and develop policies, rules and approaches against bullying, which should be comprehensive and meaningful, to ensure that bullies and victims are not excluded from the workplace, but to educate and regulate staff behavior. In recent years, bullying in the workplace has become a key issue for many companies and the policies developed by these companies have not been effective, at least referring to the workplace in Albania. Therefore, this is an issue that requires the attention and effort of many actors to be properly identified and addressed, for the benefit of all employees involved in this phenomenon.Harassment in the workplace is defined as a situation where an individual has been exposed to negative acts by one or more individuals for a long period of time for which it has been difficult to defend. In Albania 47% of respondents say that bullying situations have started in the last years, so we have a growing tendency to raise awareness about the phenomenon of bullying. In other countries, the respondents indicate that this phenomenon has existed for a long time, an answer that we receive from young people in Albania. This shows that the younger generation is giving more importance to psychological and emotional well-being in the work environment. In European countries, the highest percentages of bullying come from colleagues due to competition to "appear", while in Albania, bullying is committed by direct superiors to show their superiority.Most Albanian employees are not aware of the regulations and norms of the organizations where they work. They are not interested in knowing their rights, and what are worse, human resources do not do their job in the On-boarding process. Employees who fall prey to the phenomenon of bullying have the most serious consequences for the desire for work, which is declining, and for the decline in performance at work. From experience and literature we encounter a very important phenomenon: in European countries, at the moment when the employee has a decrease in efficiency, the task of human resources is to identify the problem and intervene in solving it. While in Albania, in most companies, whether corporations or smaller businesses, this process does not take place. It is preferable to personify the problem with the person, which not only does not solve the situation but further aggravates it. The Constitution of the Republic of Albania, approved by Law no. 8417, dated 21.10.1998, amended by Law no. 9675, dated 13.1.2007 and by Law no. 9904, dated 21.4.2008, provides that all citizens are equal before the law and no one may be unjustly discriminated against on grounds such as gender, race, religion, ethnicity, language, political, religious or philosophical beliefs, economic, educational, social or parental status.The Labor Code is the basic law that regulates labor relations in Albania.The Labor Code, as well as the Constitution of the Republic of Albania, sanctions the principle of prohibition of discrimination. More specifically, the Labor Code provides that any kind of discrimination in the field of employment and occupation is prohibited. Non-discrimination and the right to employment are the main axes provided by the Labor Code.

Received: 18 September 2022 / Accepted: 24 October 2022 / Published: 30 November 2022