Comparative Anti-workplace Bullying Public Policy in Australia, Canada and the United States

Abstract

This thesis seeks to compare the anti–workplace bullying movements in Australia, Canada and the United States. It gives a broad perspective on how each country initiated its anti–workplace bullying measures and highlights the distinct roles that different actors can play in the process of social change. Although the three countries of focus are federated nations and have similar economies, cultures and historical backgrounds, the pace of anti–workplace bullying movement has varied between Australia, Canada and the US. This thesis argues that the key factors influencing anti–workplace bullying initiatives in the three countries are the political and economic environment and the role of specific actors (including the state, unions, non-traditional actors and employers) in employment relations, as well as the strength of the labour movement. Employers in the three countries generally hinder anti-bullying initiatives due to the fear of litigation and the cost involved in settling bullying cases. Compared to Australia and Canada, the anti–workplace bullying movement in the US has fallen behind. This can be attributed partly to the recent economic recession, the fact that labour relations systems in the US are less pro-labour, the relatively low rate of union density compared to Australia and Canada, the traditional culture of power imbalance in employment relationships and employers’ opposition. As a result of these factors, the anti–workplace bullying lobby in the US started from a grassroots movement, which has advocated to unions and lobbied government for anti-bullying legislative change; in Australia and Canada, on the other hand, it was the collaboration of interest groups and the unions lobbying the government that advanced the development of anti-bullying legislation. In terms of motivation to support the anti-bullying movement in the three countries, there are generally three reasons why the advocates, legislators and unions do so: political motivation, concern for workers’ dignity and rights and a moral argument based on personal experience. The anti-workplace bullying movement in the three countries have made some progress toward raising awareness of bullying at work. In Canada, the province of Quebec has unique protection against psychological harassment under the Labour Standard Act. Saskatchewan and Ontario have protection under their occupational and health safety frameworks; such protection also exists at the federal level. In Australia, the first state to generate a legislative definition of workplace bullying was South Australia. In the US, while a Bill has been submitted to a number of state legislatures, there is still no specific legislation against workplace bullying and no legal definition of the term. This thesis concludes that pursuing the enactment of a specific anti–workplace bullying law has proved to be challenging, as regulating interpersonal behaviour in the workplace can be tricky and difficult to quantify.