An overwhelming majority of workers in the American restaurant industry have suffered cyberbullying in the workplace at some point during their professional careers. Do they have any power under the law to make it stop? What can employers in the industry do to prevent and remedy such behavior? While no laws in America that explicitly prohibit “bullying” in the workplace, we know it happens. Employers in the restaurant industry have several tools at their disposal to address and prevent employee bullying in the workplace and foster an inclusive and thriving workforce.
The dearth of laws addressing workplace bullying in America starkly contrasts the robust network of laws Europe has had in place for decades. Generally, neither federal nor state employment laws expressly prohibit bullying at work, absent a connection between the bullying behavior and an employee’s protected characteristic, such as their race, religion, age, or disability, among others. However, there may be other legal causes of actions or claims that could arise from such conduct (e.g., laws aimed at requiring a safe workplace, tort law, criminal law, etc.). While some states have implemented laws that prohibit abusive conduct in the workplace and mandate training and policy enforcement by employers, generally, none of those statutes provide employees who are the object of the bullying with a private right of action to hold individuals accountable under the law. That being said, employers need to address this conduct from an employee relations and legal perspective.
Preventing and remedying cyberbullying in the workplace starts with understanding its substantial impact on employees. We often may think of bullying as occurring in face-to-face interactions, but instances of cyberbullying have also become commonplace. Cyberbullying is bullying in the form of abusive, hostile, intimidating, or threatening electronic communications that take place through the use of computers, cellphones, or other devices.
Cyberbullying can target a single worker or a group of workers; even outside of those employees who are the object of the conduct, it has a pervasive impact on restaurant culture that frustrates the development of employee skills and relationships and may even affect the quality of the dining experience for patrons. The humiliation and distress caused by cyberbullying can adversely affect employee morale and the collective performance of the workplace in a significant way, and without recognizing and addressing the conduct, employers may never maximize the efforts of their talent, leading to disengagement, low employee morale, and turnover. Cyberbullying can be exacerbated because it does not necessarily stop when an employee leaves the workplace in contrast with in-person bullying. Instead, it can continue on social media, through text messages, or email after shifts have ended and the kitchen is closed. Compounding the impact of cyberbullying is the fact that employees who are the object of the bullying may be reluctant to report the conduct.
Certain employment-related dynamics within the restaurant industry may also impact instances of cyberbullying. For example, there may be a hierarchy in the kitchen (e.g., executive chefs, sous chefs, etc.) or tension between departments (such as kitchen and front-of-house operations), and employees are also typically working closely together, quickly, with time pressures and demands from patrons, often for long hours and late into the evening. We need look no further than the cooking and restaurant-focused reality television shows, which demonstrate some of these pressures, albeit with potentially exaggerated drama. These dynamics, coupled with the growth of cyberbullying in the age of social media, mean that employers in the restaurant industry must commit to understanding, remedying, and preventing such conduct.
To complicate matters, the word “bullying” can also be overused or misused. For example, an employee may misuse the term to describe a situation where an employer or supervisor is engaged in managing performance, holding employees accountable, and speaking directly with regard to providing feedback. Of course, regular and appropriate performance management, supervising, and monitoring are normal and necessary parts of the workplace.
Raising awareness about cyberbullying in the workplace is no easy feat. Still, it starts with devising and implementing an organizational-level approach to create a safe and healthy environment for the entire team and prevent bullying altogether. This means that restaurants may wish to consider the following efforts to develop an anti-bullying culture if they believe it is needed.
- Implementation of an Anti-Bullying Policy: A robust anti-bullying policy included in a restaurant’s employee handbook and distributed to all employees upon their hire (and annually thereafter) will set expectations for employee conduct if the restaurant determines that this is needed. In such policies, it is critically important that bullying is defined narrowly and specifically as to what it is and what it is not. For example, employers might include language to the effect that regular and appropriate performance management, monitoring, and supervising is not bullying.
- Creation of Complaint Procedures: A strong anti-bullying policy will include a complaint procedure for submitting complaints of bullying that identifies how employees may report a complaint, whether they are the object or a witness of bullying conduct.
- Anti-Bullying Training: Employers might consider making anti-bullying training mandatory for employees upon hiring, regardless of their position. They may incorporate an anti-bullying curriculum as part of regular sexual harassment prevention training, especially if there are such issues in the workplace.
- Climate Surveys and Culture Feedback Solicitation: Climate surveys and feedback solicitation are effective and more nuanced ways for restaurants to understand where and how they may need to improve and how staff at all levels of the restaurant perceive the culture and its commitment to ensuring inclusivity and civility. Of course, surveys and feedback should be undertaken carefully, with proper communication and explanation to employees who may be questioning “why.”
- Holding Employees Accountable: A substantiated complaint of bullying behavior does not end with disciplining the employee engaging in the conduct. Follow-up is critical to ensure that such behavior does not resume, in the same or different form. Restaurant leadership may consider bringing in a management coaching professional to provide supervisor and manager-level workers with the tools necessary to recognize and address bullying behavior.
Whether or not workplace bullying legislation takes hold in America like it has in other countries, employers in the restaurant industry can take steps to prevent and remedy it. A holistic no-bullying philosophy that is adopted and enforced through various means and applied to all employees, regardless of position, is critical to preventing bullying before it becomes ingrained in a restaurant’s culture. Restaurants may wish to consult with competent legal counsel regarding how to address workplace bullying.
AUTHOR BIO
Abby M. Warren and Christopher A. Costain are partner and associate, respectively, of the law firm Robinson+Cole
