Burst
Written by: Lu Jiayu
2021-02-22 07:00
Last update date: 2021-02-22 07:00
Bullying in the workplace causes mental and emotional trauma and is often ignored because it is difficult to assess. Sister Fang, the cleaning worker, could not bear the injustice of her boss's statement that "cleaners cannot be treated equally", but she was repeatedly targeted by her boss and colleagues and asked Every day, she dismantled the water machine to clean, and accused her of poor performance, which caused her to suffer from insomnia, hand tremors, and wind and skin diseases under the emotional distress.
After nearly a year, the situation was judged by the Labour Department as a work-related injury, and the employer had to pay compensation eventually.
But Sister Fang is only the tip of the iceberg of bullying cases in the workplace, and there are very few who can get justice under the current regulations.
A labor organization pointed out that the current definition of occupational diseases under the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance does not cover mental illness. When employees encounter emotional or mental distress, most of them cannot be established as work-related injuries due to difficulties in proving their working relationship. Employees should also face up to the mental stress in the workplace.
Sister Fang, the cleaner, suffered from mental illness in 2018 due to repeated incidents by her boss and colleagues. She suffered from insomnia, hand tremors, and wind disease.
(Photo by Lu Jiayu)
The victim, Sister Fang, worked as a cleaner in a company for more than ten years. She had been in peace in the past, but in 2018, she was asked by the company to change her working hours. At that time, a boss told her, “Because you are a cleaner, you can’t get equal treatment. "Said Fang was surprised and uncomfortable.
She then listened to a friend’s suggestion and consulted the Labour Department and Equal Opportunities. However, when she told her work experience, she revealed that the company had refused to arrange flexible working hours because of her husband’s cancer, and was suspected of violating the “Family Position Discrimination Ordinance”. .
After the company learned of the incident, it immediately met with Sister Fang to calm the incident.
After asking for help, the job appraisal changes from better to worse, mental problems appear under pressure
After the unexpected incident, Sister Fang began to be targeted by her boss and colleagues, including being asked by her colleagues to open the water dispenser to clean every day, and accused of wiping the windows, etc. The annual work appraisal has also performed well in the past ten years and suddenly became everywhere. Unsatisfactory, "I will not do anything if I clearly do, and I will do it if it is not related to my business."
While waiting for the evaluation results, Sister Fang suffered from stress. She suffered from insomnia, hand tremors, skin irritation, etc. She needed to take psychiatric drugs and take sick leave. Sister Fang decided to file a complaint with the Labour Department again. After investigation by the Labour Department, It is believed that Sister Fang’s case is a work-related injury, and the main reason for Sister Fang’s situation is due to work pressure.
In the end, the company’s insurance company also paid Ms. Fang's work injury compensation. Two colleagues who had stayed in Sister Fang were also transferred and retired. The company also hired outsourced workers to share the workload of Ms. Fang.
Fortunately, I was justified
During the 9 months of investigation by the Labour Department, Sister Fang said that the company still had trouble with her. The most sad day was not knowing that she had been suffering from mental illness. Once she was emotionally triggered by a colleague’s unreasonable request, and she had a desire for life and death in the company. Jumped down.
Fortunately, her son and friends have always supported Sister Fang and finally survived the difficult situation. "Haocai IKEA is called an end...Since Qu (company) is willing to admit that he hurt me, it's fair to be fair."
She pointed out that her current mental condition has improved, but she said that she "should have a good relationship with her (boss)". She sometimes shed tears during psychological counseling. She also pointed out that she recently saw Li Donghai Primary School. The news of the death of teacher Lin Litang all recalled her own experience and felt heartache.
The other driver, Mr. Lin, also suffered mental problems due to bullying by the company and colleagues.
(Photo by Lu Jiayu)
The bank driver Mr. Lin refused to pick up his colleague and was left in trouble
Sister Fang’s case is a rare case of obtaining work-related injury compensation, but other similar workplace bullying incidents are not accepted.
In another case, Mr. Lin started working as a driver in a bank in 2008. He declined to take his colleagues home from work. Afterwards, he was kept in trouble by the company and colleagues. Later, the company transferred him to driving a shuttle bus, including being accused by his colleagues of washing the car. "Wet and clean." She once applied for sick leave due to diarrhea and was rejected by the company due to lack of staff.
Mr. Lin was asked to extend working hours once and accidentally crashed into a car and injured his neck. After applying for sick leave, he was coldly treated by the company. Later, when Mr. Lin submitted the medical and welfare documents to the company, he was asked "Which paper?", Lin first got excited before falling and hurt his tail keel.
The mental injury is not a work-related injury and the application for legal aid is unsuccessful
Mr. Lin claimed that he had been asked by the company to sign that he was not a work-related injury. He later claimed that he had already declared to the Labour Department but had not returned the sick leave slips taken earlier to Mr. Lin, so he could not go to the Labour Department to deal with the work-related injury.
Mr. Lin was transferred to a clerical job by the company in 2016, and was even ridiculed by his colleagues, "You do not have a driver at IKEA, it is the company that takes you in, you are useless, you are useless", eventually he has emotional problems and needs to see a psychiatrist. And follow up by social workers.
Mr. Lin left his job the year before and is still unable to work. He is now living on Comprehensive Social Security. "It doesn’t matter if I don’t have a job, but I’m suffering from IKEA, so pity me?", Mr. Lin reported to the Labour Department for mental trauma, but was caught It is not considered to be a work injury. In addition, Mr. Lin has also applied for a negligence claim for a legal aid work injury. He also failed because the three-year period for the claim had passed.
Xiao Qianwen, director-general of the Industrial Injury Rights Association, pointed out that workplace bullying is common in large and small companies, but there are very few cases of seeking help and getting serious attention.
(Photo by Lu Jiayu)
The Workers' Rights Association: There are very few cases that have been squarely looked at
Xiao Qianwen, director-general of the Industrial Injury Rights Association, pointed out that workplace bullying is common in large and small companies, but there are very few cases of seeking help and getting serious attention.
Siu Chien-wen also pointed out that it is very rare for Sister Fang’s case to be squarely treated by employers and the Labour Department. The current definition of work injury in the Employees’ Compensation Ordinance is that when employees encounter emotional or mental distress, most of them cannot be regarded as work injuries. The reason is that it is difficult to prove that the employee’s emotional distress is caused by the boss’s practices or workplace bullying. However, if the Labour Department can conduct in-depth investigations and evaluate the data and justifications, the cause is obvious, and employers and insurance companies are willing to cooperate and recognize responsibilities. The example of my sister successfully solved the problem.
Xiao Qianwen pointed out that many places in foreign countries have included mental problems caused by occupations in the treatment of work-related injuries. In contrast, the situation in Hong Kong is really insufficient and backward.
Xiao Qianwen encourages employers and employees to face up to the problems of workplace bullying and work pressure. If they encounter problems, they should seek help as soon as possible. In the long run, he hopes that the government can resolve the problems through amendments to the Employees' Compensation Ordinance.
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Mental health mental illness work injury