McClinton hearing explores options to address workplace bullying
State House Speaker Joanna McClinton hosted a hearing today with the PA House Majority Policy Committee to explore the issue of psychological abuse in the workplace and review options for expanding workplace safety provisions to address it.
Rep. Joanna E. McClinton August 14, 2024 | 12:18 PM
DARBY, Aug. 14 – State House Speaker Joanna McClinton, D-Phila./Delaware, hosted a hearing today with the PA House Majority Policy Committee to explore the issue of psychological abuse in the workplace and review options for expanding workplace safety provisions to address it.
“Everyone deserves to be safe at work – that means free from physical harm as well as mental or psychological abuse,” McClinton said. “While there are laws on the books to protect workers from environmental hazards, we need to do more to protect people from workplace psychological hazards like bullying and oppressive treatment that create toxic work environments and cause undue stress and anxiety for workers.”
McClinton said that workplace psychological abuse is perpetrated through interpersonal abuse that can violate an employee’s right to dignity and respect. Prolonged abuse and oppressive treatment can create a toxic work environment that impacts a single employee or many. An employee will often opt to leave a workplace to escape harassment, especially if their reports of abusive treatment have gone unanswered.
Alternatively, according to the American Psychological Association, psychologically healthy workplaces are ones where employees trust that they are a valued member of the team, can openly discuss mistakes, problems and tough issues, and where they can seek help, feedback or offer ideas without being targeted for negative treatment.
Laws like the Occupational Safety and Health Act cover employees at most private sector and some public sector employers by setting and enforcing safety standards as well as anti-retaliation measures to protect employees, but it largely centers on physical safety. Laws fail to protect employees from workplace psychological abuse, unless an employee is protected under Title VII or the Civil Rights Act and can prove that the abuse stems from their membership in a protected class.
“We need to expand the definition of what workplace safety means, especially as we stress the importance of mental health in our communities,” McClinton said. “It is in everyone’s best interest to create work environments where employees thrive. Employees can’t perform their best if they are experiencing excessive stress or anxiety due to workplace abuse, which eventually hurts the organization’s bottom line.”
As the majority party in the state House, the Democratic Caucus has worked to advance worker protections by passing bills to expand OSHA protection to Pennsylvania’s public sector employees (H.B. 299), enacting safe staffing levels for nurses (H.B. 106), and protecting workers from wage theft by employers who misclassify their labor (H.B. 413). The state Senate has failed to act on any of these bills, and other pro-worker legislation.