美國處理職場霸凌問題之法制與經驗

Prevention of Workplace Bullying in the United States Law and Practice

職場霸凌之防範與處理，已成為美國新興之勞資爭議課題，雖然這類職場不法侵害行為，並不像就業歧視、工作場所性騷擾或職場暴力那樣受到重視，但這類行為對受僱者個人及事業單位組織所產生之各類負面影響，已經開始引起勞動法及人力資源學者廣泛討論，並意識到該國現行勞動制定法或普通法並無法因應，乃有師法歐洲經驗制定專法之倡議出現，但迄今並未成功。本文之目的，是希望對最近在美國極引人注目職場霸凌問題之產生背景、嚴重情形及對勞資雙方所產生之各類負面影響等，做一全面檢視，並探討該國現行勞動制定法及普通法所能提供之救濟手段，以及所提出之相關改革措施，尤其是在各州制定健康工作場所法之努力情形及引起之辯論。由於雇主及受僱者雙方在事先防範及事後處理這類情形均扮演極為重要之角色，因此，他（她）們本身所應採取相關具體作為，也將一併提及。最後，鑑於這類事件在我國目前也逐漸開始受到重視，而最新修正之職業安全衛生法，也科雇主應預防這類受僱者因執行職務，而遭到不法侵害行為之法律責任。從而，美國在過去30多年來處理這種工作場所新興爭議所累積之經驗，自有甚多可供參考攻錯之處。

Workplace bullying is an emerging concern for employers, employees, labor unions and business entities in the United States. Unlike in Europe, where the topic has received extensive attention, with some countries, such as United Kingdom, France and Sweden, have initiated legislation and policies to protect employees from bullying behavior. In the United States, however, this problem has received less emphasis as the focus has been on high-prolife shooting, homicides, and other acts of physical violence. It is only during the late 80s that bullying and other non-fatal forms of violence have attracted attention in that country. The purpose of this article is to make an all-out examination of the phenomenon of workplace bullying in the United States, which has become a very important topic in employee-and-employer relations in recent years. In addition to introductory and concluding remarks, the contents of this article are divided into five sections. Section 1 traces development backgrounds, seriousness, and negative impacts on employees, employers and business entities themselves of workplace bullying. Section 2 reviews the effectiveness of existing labor statutes, including anti-discrimination laws, occupational safety and health acts, worker compensation laws and legal regime governing collective industrial relations in coping with this phenomephon. Remedies offered by common law, such as tort, especially intentional infliction of emotional distress, to determine whether they can provide adequate protections for those employees who have encountered this mistreatment while at work are also analyzed. Section 3 discusses several reform measures, such as the efforts of enacting the Healthy Workplace Bills in a number of states and reasons for their failure to pass will also be examined. Section 4 indicates that since employers, labor unions, and employees all play important roles in preventing and handling of workplace bullying, how they utilize in-house procedures to cope with this internal conflict just as they manage workplace violence and sexual harassment in the past will also examine. Finally, in Section 5, because the newly amended Occupational Safety and Health Act in Taiwan has also imposed strict liability on local employers to effectively prevent and correct this mistreatment of their employees while at work. Therefore, experiences from the United States in this field can certainly provide useful guidance for Taiwan when it tries to cope with this new issue in the workplace.