Good afternoon and welcome to Dublin City University and the National Anti-Bullying Research
and Resource Centre thank you for joining us for this virtual launch of two very important reports
by the National Anti-Bullying Research and Resource Centre the centre was founded in 1996
and since then scholars attached to the centre were the first in Ireland to undertake studies
on school bullying workplace bullying homophobic bullying and cyber bullying as well as many other
related topics so today over 30 researchers attached to the centre are in fact recognised
globally as leading scholars in their field so today's two reports that we're launching will
add to the canon of research that has come out of the centre over nearly a quarter of a century
the first report on cases of workplace bullying before the workplace relations commission was
written by Dr Angela Mazzone and Geraldine Kiernan the second report on ageism and workplace bullying
was written by Dr Trudy Corrigan and Professor Mark Morgan we'll hear more about those later on
but first it's my pleasure to introduce to you the president of Dublin City University
Professor Daire Keogh I’m delighted to welcome you to the National Anti-bullying Centre here at DCU
I’m very pleased to to welcome our Minister Damian English minister for state of business
employment and retail I’d also like to extend a warm welcome to Patricia Murray from the health
and safety authority who's a member of the board of the Anti-Bullying Centre we're very
proud of the work of the ABC here at DCU and for 25 years that centre has been researching
bullying the impact and consequences of bullying it has established a reputation for itself and
it holds the unique UNESCO chair in anti-bullying studies in the world the work of the centre
exemplifies the ambition of Dublin City University to transform lives and societies
and it also reflects our people first agenda and our hope to put people their wellness
their ambitions and their potential at the heart of all that we do of course bullying
has the opposite effect and bullying can stifle people's growth that bullying can punish people
in ways that we can't even begin to imagine and certainly in any organization that bullying is
not conducive uh to the purpose of of that team so that's why I think that these two reports today
are important for us that the two studies provide perspectives on bullying in the workplace and they
also provide insights for employers their research and the analysis will assist employers policy
makers to ensure that the workplace is a safe place and remember that everybody deserves respect
and that mutual respect is key to building a team and ultimately to the delivery of the ends of any
organization the first piece of research I’d like to congratulate Dr Angela Mazzone
and Geraldine Kiernan for their report into cases brought under the unfair dismissals act
and those cases studied are ones that cited bullying that what they find in this research
is that over one-third of such cases taken to the WRC cited bullying as a reason for their unfair
dismissal and in those cases less than half and this is important only 46 percent of the
organizations defending their reputations followed some anti-bullying procedures and similarly 36.8
of those organizations did not follow any recorded procedure to deal with bullying cases those are
important insights and lessons for organizations as they deal with these difficulties the
second case is important too because while many think of the work of the anti-bullying centre as
the work of Dublin city university with young people in schools and learning contexts what
the report today reflects is that bullying is not just a feature of youth something that we grow out
of and leave behind but that bullying can darken our lives at every stage of our journey and this
research is carried out by Dr Trudy Corrigan and Professor mark Morgan and I’d like to think to
thank them for their work which examines ageism and bullying in the workplace what their work
suggests is a trend of negative experiences for older employees and what they notice that
older workers are more likely to report incidents of bullying than any other negative event in their
journey and at the heart of these complaints are false stereotypes which result in negative views
of older people in the workplaces suggestions for instance that older people are resistant to change
or that older people are less able to learn new skills especially in technology however the
evidence regarding these stereotypes are seldom found and the capacity of older people to learn
is largely people to learn is largely unaffected by age so DCU's age-friendly university shows very
clearly that lifelong learning isn't just jargon what the experience shows is that older people can
and they do learn new skills and knowledge as they mature so I welcome these studies and the findings
that a comprehensive approach is needed to address ageism and discrimination in the workplace so in
conclusion I’d like to congratulate the authors of both reports and the team of
research assistants who supported their completion I’d like to thank Dakota Burton and Tali Lesser,
Claudio Ranio and Beatrice Siacha and I’d like to thank especially Professor James O’Higgins Norman
and the team at the anti-bullying centre who are involved in the research uh and
in today's launch so go raibh maith agaibh. Good afternoon everybody first of all let me
say that I am delighted to have the opportunity to launch these two reports that you hear today
both of which make an excellent contribution to the overall body of research in these two areas
I’d like to thank the president of ecu Professor Keogh for the invitation
and of course to thank the office of both reports
firstly Dr Trudy carrigan and Professor mark Morgan on ageism and bullying in the workplace
and in the second report Dr Angela Mazzone and Ms Geraldine Kiernan who explore bullying in the
workplace via analysis of cases presented to the WRC under the unfair dismissal acts
I know first-hand that Dublin city university has a strong commitment and reputation
in research excellence and is home to a number of internationally renowned research centres such as
the national anti-bullying research and resource centre Professor James O’Higgins Norman who leads
the centre also holds a prestigious UNESCO chair on tackling bullying in schools and cyberspace
the centre is internationally recognized as a centre of excellence in bullying
research and leads the field of research resource development and training in bullying in Ireland
in doing so the centre and these two enlightened reports serve to highlight issues that are having
an extremely negative effect on people's lives every day although the issues of
ageism and workplace bullying are not new they seem more current in the world we live in today
this may be in part due to the impact of the new technologies that at once connect
us and also isolate us by allowing us to work and learn remotely from each other
it may be because of renewed hope that due to work such as that on the take in these reports
there is progress and optimism that these issues can be tackled in a meaningful way
on the topic of ageism it is heartening to see the bias and negative stereotypes
which can be experienced by old people have been tackled and legislated for
it must now be accepted that people will work later into life and that there are huge benefits
to intergenerational workplaces unbullying in the workplace more generally Dr Mazzone's and
Ms Kiernan's report clearly highlights the need for and benefits of ongoing education
awareness raising and targeted anti-bullying intervention programs
it also shows the clear benefit of anti-bullying policies and procedures for both employees
and employing organizations both reports illustrate that fostering a culture of respect
by having the right measures in place will help benefits for all in the workplace
in my department there are several agencies that impact on workplaces and two that have a direct
impact these are the health and safety authority and the workplace relations commission I know the
HSA has a nominee on the board of the national anti-bullying research and resource centre Ms
Patricia Murray and everyone is in no doubt also familiar with the important role played by the WRC
I’m pleased to say that the WRC and the HSA are working together on finalizing an updated code
of practice for employers and employees on the prevention and resolution of bullying at work
this revised code is a result of a process of engagement with stakeholders and public
consultation and will replace two previous calls the HSA code of practice was issued in 2007
and WRC quarterback was from 2002. the new code provides practical guidance for employers and
employees in identifying preventing and mitigating bullying at work it applies to all employments
in Ireland irrespective of whether employees work at a fixed location remotely at home or on mobile
it is hoped that this code of practice the work of these agencies and the body of research attitude
by these two reports that we have gathered here virtually to launch will raise awareness of the
issues put the mechanisms policies and procedures in place and start the conversations that will
allow people to carry out their workplace their work in a respectful and healthy environment
to conclude I would like again to sincerely thank the orders of these reports Trudy,
Mark, Angela and Geraldine and all at the National Anti-Bullying Research Research and
Research centre for your work commitment and dedication to tackling these important issues
thank you for your time here today as well
hello and welcome to the launch of the workplace bulletin report in the report being launched today
we presented some recent workplace building cases which were brought to the workplace relations
commission under the unfair dismissals acts workplace bullying involves a negative treatment
which is systematic and repeated over time on the part of a co-worker subordinate or superior
the person exposed to the bullying has difficulty in standing up for themselves
meaning that bullying involves a strong imbalance of power between the perpetrator and the target
in some instances when the target of bullying feels that there is no other way to preserve
their mental and physical health they might be entitled to claim constructive dismissal under
the unfair dismissal's acts this report focuses on cases citing bullying harassment and victimization
which were brought to the workplace relations commission between September 2015 and may 2018.
the search yielded 87 cases and was conducted on the workplace relations commission online database
47 of cases cited bullying and harassment and 35 of cases cited bullying only
claimants were more likely to be men indeed in 58 of cases the claimant was a male employee
this finding is not suggesting that men are more likely to be bullied
but it might suggest that male and female employees deal with bullying in different ways
also the alleged perpetrators were more likely to be men and this finding is
coherent with the international literature 46 of organizations followed anti-bullying procedures
about 37 37 percent did not follow any anti-bullying procedures
about 43 percent of claimant received a monetary payment most of the awarded cases belonged
to organizations that were not following any anti-bullying procedures about 51 percent of cases
failed most of the cases that failed belong to organizations that followed anti-Poland procedures
taken together these findings might suggest that building is more likely within organizations that
are not following any anti-Poland procedures two years and five months was the average time between
submission of the complaint and the workplace relations commission judgment
organizations had to sustain high cost to refund the awarded cases the average award was about 12
000 euro given the high time and cost that the case is involved and given the negative effects
of workplace pooling on the mental health of employees uh we strongly suggest that
organizations should be made aware of the effects of the negative effects of workplace pulling
so we need to raise awareness around this phenomenon and also we need to implement
evidence-based programs which should be aimed at preventing and tackling the phenomenon
of workplace bullying in the Irish organizations and globally thank you for your
attention
this report is Drawn from international literature which evaluates discrimination and bullying
associated with ageism and aegis attitudes in the workplace the report was conducted in 2019
and concluded in early 2020 this is what the report found ageism is considered as a form
of discrimination either through conscious or unconscious bias and it can be experienced as
a form of bullying it is anticipated that people age 65 years of age will increase substantially
in Ireland to approximately 1.5 million of the population by 2051. this is also an increase that
will be experienced across the world this means that people will be working for a longer time in
their whole lifespan stereotyping of older workers has a powerful influence frequently in negative
influence which packs for example on the selection and recruitment of older workers to the workplace
stereotypes such as their resistance to change and less ability to learn new skills
and especially with technology however there is little evidence to support these stereotypes found
and the capacity of older people to learn new knowledge and skills is largely unaffected by age
there is a high risk that when these stereotyping exists that the stereotyping becomes a belief
an important consideration when looking at research on aging concerns the hard evidence
on intellectual functioning an important point is that increased age is seldom associated
with lower levels of cognitive functioning cumulative learning and acquired knowledge for the
most part remain largely intact the report also highlights recruitment barriers for older workers
the William Frye report of 2016 for example demonstrated that 38 of unemployed people
aged between 35 to 54 years of age thought they were to perceive to be too old for employment
the international literature highlighted the concerns of bullying in long-term care facilities
both for employees and for residents the bullying experienced here was evidenced in the
form of elder abuse neglect or discriminatory abuse which includes ageism verbal bullying
was most prevalent but social bullying was also prevalent particular concern was when the victims
can be vulnerable and do not have the ability to articulate the bullying experience by them
awareness of the law and legislation was found to be important in the prevention of ageism
and bullying actions in the workplace and the recommendations arising from the report for the
following one employers need to develop positive attitudes and behaviours to older prospective
employees who seek new career opportunities two organizations need to create a supportive culture
which assists with adDressing ageist attitudes for workers three awareness of both employers
and employees of legislation to prevent ageism and bullying in the workplace is also very important
for opportunities to develop multi-generational workforces where employees of all ages gain from
the knowledge experience and skills of both older and younger employees
there is a need for a comprehensive approach to adDress ageism and discrimination
to prevent this and interventions are needed to be urgently implemented finally there is an old
Irish saying that says mulligan august chukicht praise the young and they will flourish we say
moladh na daoine isak agus tiocfaidh siad ‘praise the older people and they also will flourish too’.
Thank you once again thank you to everyone who joined us on zoom today for this virtual launch
of two really important reports that as I said earlier on will add to the canon of research
that is produced by the national anti-bullying research and resource centre here at DCU
if you would like to access those reports or any other reports from the centre you can do so on our
website DCU.ie/ABC. I just want to thank everyone who has contributed to today Professor Daire Keogh
the minister for state Mr English Dr Angela Mazzone, Geraldine Kiernan, Dr Trudy Corrigan
and Professor Mark Morgan and all of the team at the Anti-bullying Centre in the President's Office
in DCU and everyone who has contributed to making this virtual launch possible today. Thanks mostly
to all of you who have joined us today and we look forward to meeting you again sometime soon.