When encountering workplace PUA, can you just swallow your voice?
Interlocutor
Director, Labor Law and Social Security Law Research Center, Central University of Finance and Economics
Shen Jianfeng
Zhang Liyun, Associate Professor, School of Law, China Institute of Labor Relations
"Rules of Law Daily" reporter Zhao Li
Derogatory personality and infringement of rights
It doesn't help to make mistakes
Reporter: Recently, workplace PUA has frequently appeared on the hot search lists of major social software.
In your opinion, what is the main reason for the PUA phenomenon in the workplace?
Shen Jianfeng: Workplace PUA is a phenomenon in which employees are mentally controlled by methods such as hitting employees' self-confidence and promising career development prospects.
There are many reasons for this phenomenon, including the fiercer competition between modern social enterprises, and the development of information technology to provide convenience for contacting employees at any time, but it is also closely related to the characteristics of modern labor.
Under modern production conditions, labor is increasingly not a kind of repetitive physical labor, but a kind of intellectual and creative labor.
In this context, the traditional use of employer regulations and management measures to control the external labor process of laborers has begun to decline, encouraging and managing the spirit and heart of laborers, stimulating their creativity, desire for work, and competition. Fighting spirit is more valued.
And if the spirit and heart of workers are stimulated and managed to extremes, mind control and workplace PUA will appear.
Therefore, this phenomenon is more prominent in industries and industries where the personality and creativity of workers are more important.
Reporter: The most commonly used method of workplace PUA is that the boss derogates and suppresses the personality and dignity of workers through words or actions.
Another feature is to deliver the work content of employees beyond the scope of work or beyond the normal load, and the employees are still required to "stand by at any time" and complete their work tasks when they are on vacation.
What rights does this violate the workers?
Shen Jianfeng: Depending on how the boss derogates and suppresses the personality of his subordinates, the infringement of the rights and interests of workers will vary.
Judging from the provisions of the Civil Code, if what is insulting and derogating is the character, prestige, talent, credibility, etc. of the worker, it should constitute an infringement of the right of reputation; if it is the honor obtained by the worker that is slandered or degraded, it constitutes an infringement of the right of honor; If infringement, disclosure, publicity, etc. infringe on the private life and tranquility of workers, or infringement of private spaces, private activities, and private information that workers do not want to be known to others, it constitutes an infringement of workers’ privacy; in addition, there may be infringements on workers’ privacy Personality rights such as portrait rights.
Even if there is no infringement of the above-mentioned specific personality rights, through the derogation and suppression of the personality, it may also infringe on other personality rights of workers based on personal freedom and personal dignity, that is, infringe on workers' general personality rights.
Reporter: During the interview, we noticed such a phenomenon. Although many people know that our country has a sound protection mechanism for the rights of workers, and if they encounter workplace PUA and other violations of their own legal rights and interests Blindly swallowing one's breath will only further deepen the harm, but at present many workers still do not protect their rights through legal means.
Will this kind of compromise also promote the spread of PUA and other problems in the workplace?
Shen Jianfeng: In labor relations, structural power imbalances between workers and employers, workers’ reliance on work, the special environment of the workplace, and the cost of rights protection, etc. will cause workers to face PUA in the workplace. The act of infringing upon one's own rights is compromising.
This kind of compromise will promote the spread of PUA and other problems in the workplace.
Zhang Liyun: Many workers choose to swallow their anger after encountering PUA in the workplace, because they find it more difficult to obtain evidence, and they think they can choose to tolerate as long as they are not too excessive.
The main reason for the difficulty in defending rights is subjectivity. It is relatively easy to obtain evidence for over-arranged tasks. However, if the other party uses language to insult personality, it may be difficult to obtain evidence.
If the victim is not a law student, he may not be able to obtain evidence, or he may not be aware of the need to obtain evidence.
In addition, they face greater psychological pressure.
For the victims, even if they raise the banner of rights protection, they may eventually be forced to leave their work units.
But if the victim swallows his breath and chooses to give in, then the offender will feel that his behavior deserves it.
Dare to say not to actively defend rights
Timely improvement of protection mechanism
Reporter: Our investigation found that one of the main reasons why workers choose to take their breath after suffering a workplace PUA is that they cannot lose their job. This is the most fundamental helplessness for people in the workplace suffering from PUA.
From this perspective, is it really difficult to effectively curb PUA in the workplace?
Shen Jianfeng: To fundamentally curb workplace PUA, first of all, workers need to have a clear awareness of rights and dare to say no to workplace PUA. In particular, the majority of workers should learn to resist workplace PUA, and labor unions should also support workers' rights protection.
Secondly, for companies, they should improve their human resource management capabilities, establish a scientific and benign corporate culture, management systems and strategies that stimulate workers' morale and creativity, improve internal systems, and prevent workplace PUA.
Because in the long run, workplace PUA is also harmful to companies.
Zhang Liyun: Based on their own growth environment or background, and their own ability to withstand pressure, each person's response to workplace PUA will be very different.
Therefore, employees should judge whether the degree is serious or slight according to their personal feelings. If they think that their health has been seriously affected, then I recommend decisively leaving the employer.
Employers should pay attention to the PUA phenomenon in the workplace and treat it as an abnormal thing. Don't think that it is normal for leaders to criticize employees.
Criticism beyond a certain limit is the workplace PUA phenomenon.
In addition, employers are also responsible for preaching relevant legal common sense, or raising warnings to actors with this tendency.
At the same time, it is necessary to educate and guide employees, and tell them that they can report to a certain department for help when they encounter language violence or personality insults in this area.
Enterprises should establish a relatively free and relaxed corporate culture, follow a legal management model to operate the company's internal affairs, not excessively intervene in employees' private lives, and respect employees' rights to work and rest.
Employers should also establish a zero-tolerance system, and should formulate corresponding punishment standards for different severity of different incidents, and this standard should be higher than the legal standard.
Finally, companies should introduce a third-party supervision agency. When employees’ internal complaints cannot be resolved, they can seek help from the third-party supervision agency for rights protection.
Reporter: Maintaining the dignity of workers is not only reflected in a reasonable compensation mechanism, but also in the protection and maintenance of human dignity.
Workplace PUA is worthy of criticism, but obviously it should not stop at rhetoric.
On June 1, Japan’s "Labor Policy Comprehensive Promotion Act" amendment was officially implemented, which clearly stipulates that business managers cannot use their power to bully employees, including loud and coercive reprimands, mental attacks on employees through words and deeds that deny personality, etc. Any violation will be punished.
In the face of workplace PUA, legal aspects can be a solution.
Shen Jianfeng: According to the characteristics of labor relations, the protection mechanism of laborers' personality and interests should be improved.
The laws currently available to govern PUA in the workplace are mainly the provisions on personality rights in the Civil Code.
These regulations lack the pertinence to coordinate and protect the personal interests of the parties in the labor relationship. Special protective rules for the personality rights of workers should be established in the labor law to clarify the boundaries of corporate incentives, management, and workplace PUA.
Finally, more effective administrative remedies should be provided in the protection of workers’ personal interests.
The existing labor supervision in our country pays more attention to the economic interests and basic personal rights of laborers.
With the advent of the information age and the progress of society, the protection of the personal interests of workers should be further included in the scope of labor security supervision, and the confidentiality and protection rules for whistleblowers in labor supervision should be improved.