New law needed to tackle work bullies - Minister

Workplace bullying is an increasing problem that needs legislation to deal with it, Minister of State for Labour Affairs Tony Killeen said today.

Mr Killeen was speaking at the National Conference on Workplace Bullying in Dublin this morning.

He said workplace bullying was "unacceptable in all circumstances" and was the responsibility of management to ensure that it was not tolerated.

"Workplace bullying is an increasing problem. Whether this is due to an increase in the incidence of bullying or an increasing awareness of the unacceptability of bullying behaviour is not clearly demonstrable," he said.

"Incidents of bullying must be adequately dealt with and brought to a fair and conclusive resolution in a timely fashion.

"The impact of bullying on the individual is such that immediate action on the part of employers and the State is called for," Mr Killeen added.

Mr Killeen unveiled the report of the expert advisory group on workplace bullying last August. The key recommendation of the group was that legislation be brought forward to deal with the problem.

"This legislation should apply to all employees in the workforce, irrespective of employment status. I hope to bring proposals to government with regard to how best to implement the recommendations of the group within as short a timescale as possible," said Mr Killeen.

"I will shortly be advertising for tenders for those interested in conducting a follow-up survey on workplace bullying - similar to the survey conducted for the last report in 2001 - in order to determine the true incidence of bullying in the workplace," he added.