Have you experienced harassment and bullying in a workplace in California? If your answer is yes, this behavior could be disregarding the California Labor Law. California was among the first states in the nation that introduced the anti-bullying legislation in the year 2003 and the Healthy Workplace Bill. It is sad that there is currently still an occurrence of workplace bullying in California.

While it is not unlawful to bully, harassment in a workplace due to your national origin, sex, religion, race, age, disability and variety of any other form of human differences is illegal.  What are the employee rights and freedoms under the California Labor Law as far as workplace bullying is concerned?

The aim of this article is to give you have the basic knowledge and understanding of workplace bullying, signs that you are likely to be subjected to workplace harassment and bullying and the appropriate time for filing a workplace harassment complaint in case you experience it.

What is Workplace Bullying?

The definition of workplace bullying as given by The Workplace Bullying Institute is a regular act of mistreatment, often health-harming, of a person or persons by perpetrator(s) and is in either one or more of the forms stated; humiliating, intimidating, verbal abuse, offensive behaviors or conducts that can also be non verbal, threats, work interference or sabotage that prevents you from working wholesomely.

Workplace bullying or harassment comes in many different forms and typically occurs in repeated incidents and not in isolated situations. Oftentimes, the bully in the workplace ensures that he or she engages in a pattern that is directly to the targeted person or persons where he or she, the bully, can assert power over the targets in an aggressive manner.

Signs You’re Being Bullied at Work

While bullying and harassment in the workplace is unlawful, it still tends to happen consistently, especially to the employees. If you have been subjected by your employer or even a coworker to the behavioral characteristics below or experiencing harassment at your workplace currently because of a protected characteristic, contacting our expert employment attorneys should be the first action. Our employment law attorneys should give you legislative directions and see if you have a valid case on the basis of workplace harassment and bullying.

There are instances where the employee is blind to this bullying behavior until it becomes bigger issues for them. It is crucial that when you start feeling this negative behavior in the workplace, you have the instances documented and make a report to the HR department as soon as you can.

How to File a Workplace Bullying Complaint in California

If you are a target of bullying under any of the protected factors, the California Law Court is behind your back. You just need to file a workplace bullying and harassment complaint and have our employment law attorneys make sure you that the matter is handled the correct way.

Do you have a question about workplace harassment laws in the state of California? Click here to contact Von Esch Law today!