Human Resource Management: Addressing Workplace Issues in Ireland

This report delves into critical Human Resource Management (HRM) issues within the Irish workplace, focusing on employer obligations and best practices. The report covers bullying, defining it and outlining prevention strategies through strict policies and employee empowerment. It addresses harassment, as defined by the Employee Equality Acts, and details both prevention and response methods, including informal and formal complaint procedures. Furthermore, the report examines excessive stress in the workplace, emphasizing the importance of risk assessment and employee support systems. It outlines the necessity of grievance policies and procedures for effective issue resolution, as well as both informal and formal disciplinary processes. The report stresses the employer's responsibility to investigate and address these issues to ensure a safe and productive work environment.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Human Resource Management
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
1. Bullying..............................................................................................................................2
1.1. How to Prevent Bullying.............................................................................................2
1.2. How to Deal with Bullying..........................................................................................3
1.2.1. Informal Methods of Dealing with Bullying...........................................................3
1.2.2. Formal Methods of Dealing with Bullying..............................................................3
2. Harassment..........................................................................................................................4
2.1. How to Prevent Harassment at the Workplace............................................................4
2.2. How to Deal with Harassment at the Workplace........................................................4
2.2.2. Formal Methods to Deal with Harassment at the Workplace..................................5
3. Excessive Stress..................................................................................................................5
4. Grievance............................................................................................................................6
5. Disciplinary Procedures......................................................................................................6
5.1. Informal.......................................................................................................................6
5.2. Formal..........................................................................................................................6
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
This assignment is comprised of two different sections. The first section focuses on the
obligations that employers in Ireland have when it comes to dealing with issues such as
bullying, harassment and excessive stress that are likely to arise at the workplace. The second
section focuses and outlines the necessary steps that employers in Ireland must take for
investigating allegations, including disciplinary procedures and grievance.
1. Bullying
Workplace bullying may be regarded as repeated inappropriate behavior, indirect or
direct, whether physical, verbal or otherwise that is carried out by one person or more than
one person against other people, in course of employment or at a work place that can be
regarded reasonably as undermining the right of an individual to work in dignity. Isolated
incidents of behavior that have been described in this particular decision, can be regarded as
an affront to workplace dignity but a one-off incident only may not be regarded as bullying
(Cullinan et al. 2015).
1.1. How to Prevent Bullying
Bullying can be prevented at the workplace by having a strict policy in place which
addresses the matter of bullying. Such a policy should be designed at preventing bullying by
advocating and implementing strict disciplinary measures and even punitive action if
necessary against the person who initiates such aggressive behavior against a co-worker in
the office (Barak 2016). Another effective way by which bullying can be prevented at the
workplace is to encourage employees to speak up about such behavior and register their
complaints officially, in order to make themselves heard. If employees are given the option of
voicing their concerns or complaints when they are at the receiving end of bullying behavior,

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this will go a long way in combating the problem of bullying at the workplace in the long run
(Cobb 2017).
1.2. How to Deal with Bullying
1.2.1. Informal Methods of Dealing with Bullying
If an employee believes that she or he is being bullied at the place of work, then such
a person should explain in no uncertain terms to the person who is allegedly carrying out the
acts of bullying in the first place, that such behavior is unacceptable. In the circumstances in
which it is found to be difficult on the part of the complainant to approach the person who has
been bullying him or her, then the complainant must immediately seek advice and help from
a contact in the office space on a confidential basis (D’Cruz et al. 2018). Such a contact
person can be a work place colleague, a line manager or supervisor, a human resource
manager or personnel or a trade union or employee representative. Once the contact person
has been consulted with, the complainant can request the contact person for assistance with
dealing with the matter of bullying in a non-confrontational manner. The complainant can at
any point of time decide to opt out of taking recourse to an informal procedure to address the
matter of workplace bullying, if he wishes to (De Wet and Jacobs 2018).
1.2.2. Formal Methods of Dealing with Bullying
The complainant or the person who is at the receiving end of bullying behavior, should
register a formal complaint in writing to his or her immediate supervisor, or to any important
member of the company’s management (Barak 2016). This complaint should be kept as
precise as possible, and confined to the exact incidents of bullying that have taken place
against the complainant. The perpetrator should also be notified by the management in
writing that a complaint of bullying has been levied against him, and a copy of the statement
that is made by the complainant should be made available to the perpetrator and should be

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advised that he will be given a fair opportunity to respond to the allegations that have been
made against him (Cobbs 2017). The complaint that is made regarding bullying at the
workplace should be reviewed initially by a member of the management who is known to be
impartial in his views and who can be counted on for taking the appropriate course of action
that is needed for addressing the problem at hand. Examples of such courses of action could
include mediated solutions or views that the matter at hand can be addressed in an informal
manner (Cullinan et al. 2017).
2. Harassment
Harassment is defined by Section 14 A (7) of all the Employee Equality Acts of 1998 to
2015, as a form or type of unwanted conduct that is related to the nine discriminatory grounds
and which has the effect or purpose of violating the dignity of a person while creating a
degrading, hostile, intimidating, offensive and humiliating environment for that same person.
2.1. How to Prevent Harassment at the Workplace
Harassment at the workplace can be prevented by introducing a policy that is against
workplace harassment and which advocates that punitive action be taken against people who
harass co-workers in the office space. Regular sessions need to be conducted by HR
managers and executives with workers and supervisors on the importance of avoiding
workplace harassment by highlighting the very negative consequences that this behavior can
have on a person who is at the receiving end of harassment such as employee suicide
(Cullinan et al. 2017).
2.2. How to Deal with Harassment at the Workplace
2.2.1. Informal Methods to Deal with Harassment

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The person who is at the receiving end of harassment in office should immediately
speak to the HR manager at the office and let this person know of the problems that he or she
has been going through (Halim and Riding 2018). Such a person can also approach a member
of the company’s top level management to let them know of the issues of harassment that he
or she is faced with. It is entirely up to the complainant as to whether he or she wants to keep
the matter confidential and informal or whether he or she would like to take it up formally
and lodge an official complaint against the person who has been perpetrating such acts of
harassment (Di Marco et al. 28).
2.2.2. Formal Methods to Deal with Harassment at the Workplace
Adopting a formal approach to dealing with harassment at the workplace would mean
lodging a complaint officially against the perpetrator or the offender (Hersch 2015). The
matter at hand will then be investigated officially by the top level management of the
organization where the workplace harassment is taking place, with the alleged offender being
subjected to disciplinary action for his or her bad behavior. Although complaints of
harassment can greatly increase tensions at a place of work, this does not mean that such
complaints should not be raised, given the seriousness of an offence like workplace
harassment (Halim and Riding 2018).
Section II
3. Excessive Stress
Employers in Ireland need to keep the workplace as free from stress as possible, in order
to get workers to be their most productive when they come to office. Employers should be
aware of situations or circumstances that can create stress at work, and should aim to prevent
such situations from arising in the first place (Kwan et al. 2016). Documenting work place

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risk assessment can help employer in identifying factors that increases the risk of employee
stress in an organization. Employees should be given the scope of voicing or addressing
issues of concern should they feel too stressed or overburdened because of the work that they
do. Employees should also be allowed to take legal action if they face specific types of stress
at the place of work such as stress that may arise as a result of poorly established work roles,
the absence of proper communication, work practice changes or faulty work organization
(Pallesen et al. 2017).
4. Grievance
If employers are to manage workplace grievance in an effective manner, then they need to
draw up a grievance policy and procedure for this purpose. Such a procedure will provide
individuals with the course of action that they can take if they have any complaint that they
would like being addressed at the workplace, it will provide timescales and a point of contact
for resolving issues of concern, it will resolve employee problems in a quick and informal
manner and it will show that an employer is acting as fairly as possible to all those who are
working for him or under him (Ritzman 2019).
5. Disciplinary Procedures
5.1. Informal
Employers can meet with employees and let them know about areas of work and their
behavior in office that need to be improved upon. An action plan may be provided about what
needs to improve concerning employee behavior and performance and how it should be
improved. Written notifications can also be generated by employers on the types of action
that are considered to be acceptable at the workplace and which are signed by both the
parties, that is, the employers as well as employees (Velasquez and Jain 2018).

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5.2. Formal
Formal disciplinary methods that an employer can take recourse to in order to ensure that
decorum and discipline is maintained at the work place is to issue a written warning to a
person violating office norms, stating that his behavior is unacceptable. If this is not paid any
heed to, a second and even third warning can be issued by the employer after which dismissal
action can be taken against the employee who refuses to acknowledge any of the warnings
sent to him by his employer (Cullinan et al. 2017).
Conclusion
It is responsibility of the management of an organization or company to formally
investigate matters of bullying or harassment at the workplace and to take the appropriate
steps needed for ensuring that such incidents do not cause any discord or disturbance at the
workplace. Employers must always look into the wellbeing and safety of their employees,
and must address all grievance and stress related issues and disciplinary aspects of
organizational life, to ensure that employees have a secure place in which to work in.

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References
Barak, M.E.M., 2016. Managing diversity: Toward a globally inclusive workplace. Sage
Publications
Cobb, E.P., 2017. Workplace bullying and harassment: New developments in international
law. Routledge
Cullinan, J., Hodgins, M., Hogan, V., McDermott, M. and Walsh, S., 2019. Bullying and
Work-Related Stress in the Irish Workplace. Societies, 9(1), p.15.
D’Cruz, P., Noronha, E. and Lutgen-Sandvik, P., 2018. Power, subjectivity and context in
workplace bullying, emotional abuse and harassment: Insights from
postpositivism. Qualitative Research in Organizations and Management: An International
Journal, 13(1), pp.2-9
De Wet, C. and Jacobs, L., 2018. Workplace Bullying, Emotional Abuse and Harassment in
Schools. Special topics and particular occupations, professions and sectors, pp.1-34.
Di Marco, D., Hoel, H., Arenas, A. and Munduate, L., 2018. Workplace incivility as modern
sexual prejudice. Journal of interpersonal violence, 33(12), pp.1978-2004.
Halim, U.A. and Riding, D.M., 2018. Systematic review of the prevalence, impact and
mitigating strategies for bullying, undermining behaviour and harassment in the surgical
workplace. British journal of surgery, 105(11), pp.1390-1397
Hersch, J., 2015. Sexual harassment in the workplace. IZA World of Labor.

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Kwan, S.S.M., Tuckey, M.R. and Dollard, M.F., 2016. The role of the psychosocial safety
climate in coping with workplace bullying: A grounded theory and sequential tree
analysis. European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology, 25(1), pp.133-148
Pallesen, S., Nielsen, M.B., Magerøy, N., Andreassen, C.S. and Einarsen, S., 2017. An
experimental study on the attribution of personality traits to bullies and targets in a workplace
setting. Frontiers in psychology, 8,p.1045.
Ritzman, M., 2019. Workplace Bullying, Emotional Abuse and Harassment in
Corrections. Special topics and particular occupations, professions and sectors, pp.1-20.
Velázquez, M. and Jain, A., 2018. The Role of Work Environment Authorities in the
Dynamics of Workplace Bullying, Emotional Abuse and Harassment. Pathways of Job-
related Negative Behaviour, pp.1-29.

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References