The Independent Guide to Bullying and Stress in the Workplace

Citation

Mann, S. (2006), "The Independent Guide to Bullying and Stress in the Workplace", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 27 No. 7. https://doi.org/10.1108/lodj.2006.02227gae.002

The Independent Guide to Bullying and Stress in the Workplace

The Independent Guide to Bullying and Stress in the WorkplaceMartin BloomDunedin Academic PressMay 2006£9.99 paperback84 pp.ISBN 1 904480357

Keywords Bullying, Harassment, Employment, Law

Review DOI 10.1108/01437730610692461

Claims for bullying and stress in the workplace have, according to the publicity material for this book, been rising for a number of years and this trend is likely to continue. Certainly my experience working within workplace psychology backs up this assertion, as do other bullying networks and sources. So, this slim volume, outlining the legal issues surrounding this issue, is likely to be essential reading for most employers.

The author, Martin Bloom, is a solicitor specialising in employment law, so the book is obviously focussed on the hard legal aspects, rather on the more psychological areas that I deal with, such as who bullies, why they do it, what cultures encourage bullying, etc. Instead, this book takes us through relevant employment laws, including unfair dismissal, constructive dismissal and health and safety policies. This is obviously rather dry so readers looking for advice on dealing or coping with workplace bullying beyond the legal issues will not find what they are looking for in this book. However, there are a couple of brief but useful chapters discussing what stress is and what bullying/harassment constitutes, which is a good starting point for anybody investigating the field.

This guide is very slim, consisting of eight short chapters (making 58 pages in total). Some chapters are as short as four pages which should not in itself be off-putting, but does, in my opinion, reflect a lack of depth to this guide. However, I do think the Appendicies are very useful, with a sample model stress policy and bullying at work policy being particularly useful additions.

Overall, I am no doubt biased, but I think the book needs a broader focus that also includes helping managers, employers and employees through the bullying minefield away from the legal issues; taking legal action for an employee, is likely to be a last resort and I would have liked to have seen more emphasis on coping with bullying and dealing with bullies, for example. A more comprehensive guide, covering psychological, practical and legal issues surrounding bullying would be a welcome addition and I think that this guide could have been expanded into this. However, putting my personal bias to the side, this is a clear, readable and full guide to the legal issues that surround bullying and as such, should be essential reading for managers starting out on the bullying management path.

Sandi MannDepartment of Psychology, University of Central Lancashire, Preston, UK