Bullying in the workplace is a growing problem and a range of new measures are needed to address it, an expert group reported yesterday.
It identified a catalogue of failures in the State's response to a problem that affects tens of thousands of Irish workers.
It will be at least a year, however, before the group's recommendations are implemented, Minister of State for Labour Affairs Tony Killeen indicated.
He was speaking at the publication of the report of the Expert Advisory Group on Workplace Bullying, which was set up last year by Mr Killeen's predecessor, Frank Fahey.
The group, chaired by Paul J Farrell of IBM Ireland, said the problem was an increasing one and existing measures to tackle it were insufficient.
"The impact of bullying on the individual is so severe that strong action on the part of employers and the State is called for," it said.
Among its key recommendations are that employers be required to include anti-bullying policies in safety statements.
This would open the way for the Health and Safety Authority to prosecute employers for failing to have anti-bullying strategies in place.
It also proposed that either the Labour Court or the Employment Appeals Tribunal be empowered to issue binding decisions in bullying cases, which would be enforceable through the courts.
Both of these recommendations, however, are opposed by the employers' body, Ibec, which was represented on the advisory group.
Trade unions were also represented, but Mr Killeen said he would need to consult with the social partners before proceeding with implementation of the report. He hoped to bring proposals to the Government "within a year or so".
The report emphasises that the full extent of the workplace bullying problem is unknown, as the group did not have time to carry out extensive research.
The last major survey, undertaken for a 2001 taskforce report, found that one in 12 Irish workers was bullied at work.
Among the problems identified by the report are the lack of external advice and information resources for alleged victims.
There is also no State agency where cases can be heard by an independent person in a quasi-judicial role where the parties are still employed, it points out.
It recommends that the Labour Relations Commission be designated the single State agency charged with the management of specific allegations of workplace bullying.
Cases not resolved through mediation should then be referred to a rights commissioner. The Government should designate either the Labour Court or the Employment Appeals Tribunal as the body to hear appeals against a rights commissioner's decision, it suggests.
Significantly, it recommends that the new procedures should be available to all workers in the State. Many public sector workers do not at present have formal access to the Labour Relations Commission.
