Employee Abuse: When The Employer Abuses Emloyees

Employee Abuse: When the employer abuses emloyees

There are many forms of abuse in the labor market. Abuse among general employees, from general employees to managers, and from managers to employees.

Abuse between general employees, and from general employees to managers, is usually tackled immediately by managers or human resources departments when reports of such occur.

But what about abusive behavior from managers towards general employees?

Intent behind abuse

Abuse by employers towards employees is as varied as abuse can be in general. When assessing abuse by a manager towards employees, it is important to assess the intention behind the behavior in order to better understand the situation and how to best deal with it.

Abuse by a manager could be due to the manager's poor communication skills, the stress of the manager's work being taken out on staff, the manager possibly being incompetent at work and therefore taking that frustration out on the staff, the manager choosing to be abusive, or employees have complained about the manager who is retaliating against them or is trying to silence the employees from complaining further.

The first thought of abuse victims of any kind is to consider what they themselves did to deserve the abuse, what they themselves need to change or do better in order for the abuser's behavior to change towards them. It is therefore good for abuse victims to learn to recognize intent behind behavior towards them, in order to provide some closure to the events that took place.

Types of abuse

Whatever the intent behind the abusive behavior is, the manifestations are often the same. For the purposes of this article, the following types of abuse will be looked at:

Mental abuse

Economic abuse

Physical and/or sexual abuse

Reaction to abuse.

Employee Abuse is usually accompanied by a certain degree of escalation. First steps are usually psychological and/or emotional abuse, as it can easily be construed as anything other than abuse by both the victims and by any third parties who are approached for help with the situation.

If a manager who exhibits psychological and/or emotional abusive behavior has access to payroll in any way, economic abuse begins to occur.

If the employees who experience the abuse show any kind of resistance to it, or if the abuse does not have the desired effect the manager is after, then the abuse often escalates to physical abuse and/or sexual abuse.

At any point in this abuse chain, it can be expected that reaction to abuse will begin showing. Reaction to abuse occurs when a victim has reached their limit of tolerance due to continuous abuse from another, and starts responding with abuse in return.

It should be noted that from now on, when discussing perpetrators or abusers it will be referring to managers, and mentions of victims is in reference to affected employees.

Psychological and emotional abuse

What psychological and emotional abuse has over other forms of abuse is that it is often invisible and difficult to point out. Also, psychological and emotional abuse is often part of other forms of abuse, and therefore usually present regardless of other apparent abuse. The following list indicates how psychological and emotional abuse can potentially manifest itself:

The abuser observes the victim's behavior.

The abuser threatens the mental, physical, occupational, and/or economic security of the victim.

The abuser isolates the victim from co-workers and/or other managers.

The abuser humiliates, shames, or slanders the victim.

The abuser makes accusations and shows paranoia in communication with and towards the victim.

The abuser constantly criticizes the victim.

The abuser taunts, makes fun of, and/or teases the victim.

The abuser prevents the victim from achieving their professional and/or personal goals.

The abuser gaslights the victim.

Since behavior isn't a fixture and can take numerous manifestations, it is often difficult for employees to take general definitions of behavior and transfer to the situation in which the person finds themselves. When the behavior is verbal, it becomes even more difficult, as individuals who use psychological and/or emotional abuse are often good at using nonsensical speech, or word-salads, to confuse the victim, talking down the victim, or turning the conversation around so that the victim has difficulty understanding what is going on. The following examples can give an idea on how psychological and/or emotional abuse may occur in the workplace:

The victim points out that the manager is utilizing uncomfortable ways to communication and requests that the manager only maintains written communications. The manager ignores this request, repeatedly calls or insists in their power that the victim attends only verbal meetings.

The victim describes discomfort of attending verbal meetings with the manager. The manager then begins to follow the victim's movements, ambushes the victim to "catch them" in the corridors of the workplace to "discuss their issues".

The victim doesn't receive necessary information or decisions from the manager to fully perform their job. The victim is reprimanded for inadequate performance.

The victim receives a task to be carried out, but no information, access to systems, devices or tools in order to be able to carry out the task properly.

The victim is isolated from other employees, with direct orders from the manager to mingle less with other employees and attend fewer meetings, that the victim's work should only be done through e-mail communication, and the manager even goes as far and announces to other employees that all direct communication with the victim should end.

The victim is required by the manager to ignore certain duties or tasks, often at short notice, only to meet further abusive behavior by the manager for not having completed said duties or tasks.

The victim finds it difficult to carry out their work due to direct intervention of a manager who purposefully works against the victim’s professional duties and goals.

The victim is purposefully flooded with various tasks at work, often tasks that the victim is not supposed to be doing nor is it in the victim's field. If the victim points this out, the victim receives threats of receiving poor work performance reports or reprimands for refusal to carry out tasks.

The victim is slandered by the manager to other employees, other managers are informed about the victim's inability to do their job and that the victim only delivers unsatisfactory results. Relationships and communication with other employees and managers are systematically broken down.

The victim tries to point out the unpleasant working conditions that the manager is setting up, only to have the responsibility of the situation placed upon themselves by hearing that the victim "should have known this information", "was responsible for the project" or "is not doing their job properly".

The victim tries to discuss the negative working conditions with the manager, but the manager answers nonsensically or offers little to no support on the matter. Often the manager uses confusing language to shift the responsibility to the victim, or simply gaslights the victim.

The victim perceives that the manager does not value their time: Meetings and events are arranged at short notice, and those who cannot attend are reprimanded. Meetings and events are also postponed at short notice or meetings are dragged out, leaving the victim less time to work on other projects or attending other engagements late.

The victim tries to discuss the situation with the manager to mend the atmosphere between them. The manager does not answer the victim about the subject in question but makes accusations against the victim instead. The accusations often appear as possible breach of contract, victimization of the manager by the victim, and other rhetoric that are hard for the victim to defend themselves against on short notice.

The manager threatens the victim with loss of income or termination, or negative changes to their position when the victim tries to discuss the issues.

When it comes to psychological and emotional abuse, each case must always be evaluated individually, and therefore it is not enough to see isolated behavior and think that it is abuse. It is important to look at the manager's overall behavioral pattern towards the victim, and always evaluate the entire situation and not individual cases or moments.

Economic abuse

Economic abuse in the labor market is something that is rarely discussed, and is often reduced to economic offenses that can easily be paid up, or wage theft. But there is a difference between when the economic loss suffered by staff at the hands of management is due to wage theft, or due to economic abuse.

The intention of the loss is a key factor, and the following attributes can be evaluated to assess the situation:

Is the loss aimed at individuals, or the whole group?

Does it happen occasionally, or all the time?

An example of wage theft is e.g. overtime for all employees is prohibited, and everyone perceives that they are being cheated out of their rightful wages.

An example of economic abuse is e.g. that individuals within the workforce see that sometimes overtime is being withheld while others get paid in full, and when this mistake is pointed out it is difficult to get it corrected. This causes the affected employees a lot of mental discomfort at work, and they feel ignored by the manager.

Another difference between wage theft and economic abuse is the immediate supervisor of the employees. Wage theft is usually carried out gradually against everyone and there is nothing personal behind it, so the manager's relationship with the employees is not necessarily negative nor affected by it, except when directly discussing the economic loss. Economic abuse is personal, and therefore results in negative and difficult relations between affected employees and manager.

But like all behavior, economic abuse can have miscellaneous manifestation, and not just in the case of unpaid work hours or misappropriation of the right to time off or vacation. An example of economic abuse that obviously also falls under psychological, emotional, and physical abuse is when employees are forced to do something that goes against their own interests:

The manager forces the victim to sign a new employment contract that changes the victim's job or terms in a negative way.

The victim is often prohibited from leaving the situation until the article has been signed, thusly deprived of their liberty.

If the victim gets out of the situation without signing the article, they might not be allowed to take said article with them to have its contents evaluated by their lawyers or trade union.

During the deprivation of liberty, and if the victim manages to get away without signing the article, the victim will be threatened with loss of employment or income if they continue to refuse to sign.

The above-mentioned example sets up a situation where the victim is deprived of liberty by a manager (physical abuse) receives threats (psychological and emotional abuse) and coercion of signing away their rights (economic abuse) and therefore clearly shows how many types of abuse play together as a whole.

Physical- and sexual abuse

Physical abuse is the type of abuse that can most often be readily identified as abuse. Sexual abuse, on the other hand, is often obvious, but due to the cultural norms, sexual abuse is often considered normal or acceptable behavior and therefore the victim often feels they have to suffer sexual abusive behavior towards them in silence.

Physical- and sexual abuse often manifest after the victim has already suffered through other types of abusive behavior. In the case of a person who is good at making themselves heard regarding issues that the manager could be doing better, it is often possible to see a clear escalation on how the abuse went from psychological and emotional attempts to silence the person, to sexual- or physical abuse that is done so that the victim is unable to continue their work due to threatening and uncomfortable working conditions.

Reaction to abuse

Reaction to abuse is often abusive behavior that the victim themselves shows when their tolerance limit for abuse has been reached. It is difficult to deal with reaction to abuse, as it is a case of reprimandable behavior from the victim, which often even calls for their immediate dismissal from work, even though the abusive behavior was a direct response to abuse that the victim themselves was experiencing.

When an abusive culture has become entrenched with the employer, reaction to abuse begins to emerge. This is either a sign of inability of the HR department to deal with the situation, or that the employer's top management team is unable or simply unwilling to intervene and fix the situation.

In conclusion

Employee Abuse is a serious issue, not only because of the impact that the abuse has on the employees themselves, but the negative impact on the business entity that any kind of abusive culture has in general.

An employer known for an abusive culture has a harder time finding new staff to fill vacant positions. Absence from work, whether it is due to sickness or employees simply avoiding the workplace, is expensive for the employer. There are also problems beyond the employer, as an abusive culture affects the services and products that the employer offers to customers.

Eradicating an abusive culture is therefore not a matter of considering the needs of individual employees, but of building and strengthening the entire workforce in order to strengthen the employer in general.

Employees themselves often feel they have no reason to fight through abusive managers, and this is especially true when it comes to individual employees as individuals who go up against an abusive manager only run the risk of further abuse being used against them in retaliation or to silence them.

When Employee Abuse is a known problem at a workplace, it is important that the employees unite against the situation. The crowd provides protection for the individual and lends a stronger voice to the cause. It's good to keep the following in mind:

It is important for employees to look at patterns of behavior, not individual incidents, and report the pattern as a whole.

Although identifying intention behind the abusive behavior is important, employees should summarize all abusive instances together and avoid reading into intention all together when reporting managerial abuse. This article mentions identifying intent only so that individuals could better understand the situation they were being subject to and better handle their feelings after the fact. Understanding behavioral effects on one's feelings helps in exposing psychological and emotional abuse, which is often difficult to pin down and summarize.

It is also important that when the decision to file a complaint due to unpleasant working conditions has been made, it is imperative to do so in a thoughtful manner, and list out behaviors and incidents, but not tear down the manager's character.

Complaints made by employees about incompetent managers or Employee Abuse should always be taken seriously.

This opinion-article first appeared in Icelandic on visir.is 13th of February2023.

Source: Employee Abuse: When the employer abuses emloyees

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mutant34

2 years ago

Ok but here's the thing Edward was bullied in school and abused by his father and Johnathan was bullied in school and abused by his grandmother isn't that the same story?

Like I know people don’t like to hear that Scarecrow is a bully because they relate to him having been bullied, but that’s what he is. He’s a bully who thinks he’s still a victim and thus has the right to keep lashing out at representations of his tormentors and he doesn’t care if he has to hurt innocent people to do it. Scarecrow is actually one of few characters who has no problem at all harming women and children and this is representative of the fact that what he does no longer has anything to do with personal justice - if it ever did - and has everything to do with his loving the power he has over those whom he perceives to be as weak as he once was

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mutant34

2 years ago

I think everyone has at least one rarepair that it's unfortunally soo very hard to find fanfic off that you end up just reading the same things and being sad that there is soo few people to appreciate the vwork of art that it's the ship.

9 notes View Post

mutant34

3 years ago

The Rogue Files: You Want To Poison Me Huh

Ivy and Edward were playing chess, and they were both great at it which comes to no surprise this isn't their first time playing a game of strategy. Edward boxed her king in and grinned as he deliverd the final blow. "check mate" Ed proped his head on his hands and looked down at the board smirking at his victory. "Don't let this go to your head Ed". Edward didn't look up "don't get mad Ivy get even". Pam glared daggers, she realy wished he'd stop saying cryptic things it would be so much easier but then again Ed wasn't realy known for being a simple kind of guy. "What... the... fuck... do you mean", and Ed continue looking down "what I mean is, find somthing more fulfilling then your looks to be aregant about then will be even". Ivy was losing her patience with him and she could feel the anger bubling up inside her. " I want to poison you so badly" and Ed finally looked up from the board. "So you want to kiss me badly" . Ivy couldn't process what he just said she wanted to be angry, she wanted to strangle him but what he said was so damn confusing. "where did you get that from" Ed started chuckling at her words as if it was easy to see. "You said you wanted to Poison me and you poison people by...". She now knew exactly where he was going with this so she refused to finish his sentance but this didn't stop him from looking smug. "you kiss people" Ivy's face turned red and Eddy proped his feet up on the table and leaned back, he started laughing at her. Ivy ran off before he noticed that he was getting to her.

This idea kinda just came to me I realy don't know how. I would say drugs but I think you and I both know better then to think I make enough for a drug problem.

Batgirl: The Story Begins

Gotham was under attack by the Joker, bombs placed all over the city, in the sewers and in buildings. Buildings were calapsing and roads were caving into the sewers. This was the biggest and most destructive attack on the city to date. Batman was fighting Joker while Knightwing and Robin (Jason Todd) were trying to find and disable as many of the explosives as possible. Barbra Gordon Aka batgirl was running down on the ground trying to find a safe spot to change, when a huge boom could be heard and building above exploded raining debre on those below. A man was lying on the ground (presumably tripped) getting trampled by stampedes of people trying to escape the chaos. Barbra spotted the man and a place to change she had to choose one life over hundreds and of coarse she ran in the direction of the man. She fought aginst the current scooping up the wounded man and rushing in a nearby alley way and sitting him aginst the wall. He had bruises and gashes and marks all over his body and then she noticed a peice of shrapnel (Metal bar of some kind) sticking out of his abdomen. He awoke, huffing and breathing fast. Barbra Neal's beside him.

Barbra: "It's going to be Allright "

The man continues to grain and huff.

Barbra: "What's your name"

the man looks up at her

Eddie: "Edward... Evan Nigma but y...ou can ca..ll me... Eddie"

Eddie flashed a weak smile

Eddie: "Every...one does".

Barbra: "I'm gonna call you an ambulance your gonna be ok"

Eddie: " I sai..d you cou...ld call me E...ddie"

Barbra ignored his bad joke but how could he joke at time like this but then again it was admiral how brave he was still keeping a cool mind and acting smooth even on cusp of death. She called the ambulance and waited with Eddie until it got there and started to run off but Eddie calls to her.

Eddie: "di...d'nt catch y...our name".

Barbra: "It's Barbra Gordon, but you can call me barbra".

Eddie flashes another weak smile up at her again

Eddie: "s...ee y...ou later then babs"

This time Eddie didn't smile but smirked. Barbra smiled and shook her he had purposely called her by a different name then she specified not that it botherd her and Eddie wasn't trying to. Babs, the way he said it didn't sound all that bad, she turned away and went to the spot she saw before and changed. Knightwing(Dick grayson) came over the coms.

Knightwing: "we stopped all the bombs we could there are none left were coming your way, Bruce"

Batgirl "I'm on my way too"

Batman(Bruce Wayne) came over the coms

Batman: "No, help all the injured or trapped civilians I've got Joker"

Knightwing and Batgirl: "on it"

Robin "no I want to help"

Batman: "And you will by helping those people"

Robin: "But"

Batman: "JASON YOU HAVE A JOB TO DO SO DO IT"

Robin: "IM GOING TO DO MY JOB ALRIGHT"

Jason hangs up. Few minutes later Dick calls back in

Knightwing:"I can't find Jason he gone"

Batgirl: "I think we all know where he going Bruce keep a look out for him will do the same"

Batgirl and Knightwing continued to look for survivors and Jason. Batman came back over the coms

Batman: "need you over at gotham cathedral now".

Dick and Barbra got over there as quick as they could to see Joker was jumping around cackling as he fought off Batman and Robin with a crowbar atop the roof of the cathedral. The building stood on the edge of a cliff that was slowly eroding much like the building, the cliff hangs over the water with sharp rocks below. Knightwing and Batgirl ran in the building, Dick kicked the stairwell door down and they began to climb their way to the roof. Joker smacked batman with his crowbar sending him flying and then rolling down the opposite part of the slanted roof. Batman caught the edge of the roof and dangled, while Joker then turned toward Jason and slowly walked toward him letting out terrifying laugh and smacked him with the crowbar and Robin hit the ground and Joker began to beat on him, smacking him repeatedly before batman was right behind him and had a hold of his neck and holding off the ground, choking him. Batgirl and Knightwing opened the door and ran onto the roof. Robin got up and Joker looked around frantically before taking atvantage of his free legs and kicking Jason, which pushed him backwards causing him to slip and fall off the roof and into water and sharp rocks below. Everyone stood still it happened so fast it was hard to process what just happened. Barbra and Dick ran to the edge of the roof looking Bellow trying to find some sign of Jason but there was no sign at least from what they could see. Barbra began to cry softly and Dick closed his eyes and sat quietly. Batman threw Joker half way across the roof. The Joker started giggling and laughing.

Batman: "WHAT WAS THE POINT OF ALL THIS"

Joker: " Batsy you know better then anyone, there is no reason, I do it cause I can, oh and cause I'm crazy enough to".

Joker let out a howl

Joker started standing up but the three heros walked toward him cornering him to the edge.

Joker: "I'm am agent of chaos, so you tell me what the point of all this was, because I sure as fuck don't know"

Joker let out a cackle and batman grabbed him and took the sharp points of the blades on his bracers and pushed them aginst Jokers neck. Joker didn't flench nor did he stop smiling.

Joker: " your probably wondering why I've been so silent I guess you could say I was focused, put on a great show and got rid of the brat" Batman was beginning to draw blood as he slowly pushed down trying to fight the erge to kill Joker but slowly failing to do so.

Joker: "he's gone for good you know your never gonna get him back"

Joker then let out goustly chuckle and that was the final straw, Batma drew back his arm and let it go but the blades stopped an inch away from Jokers face. Dick had caught batman's arm dick had tears running down his face.

Batman "let go"

Knightwing: "no this isn't they way Jason wouldn't want this he believed in justice and do process like the rest of us"

Batman: "and now he's gone and there only one to blame".

Batgirl walked over slowly

Batgirl: Knightwing's right do you want to dishonor his memory are you going stoop down to Jokers level. We can't control him but we can control ourselves and keep ourselves in line. We are the only thing keeping gotham intact if we fall so does gotham."

Batman looked at them and took his arm back and punched a Joker who was still smiling and giggling even after he was knocked out.The police got there and put Joker in the back of a prisoner transport van and the cost guard looked for Robin but they didn't find anything. The commissioner(Jim Gordon) walked over

Jim: They found nothing I offer my deepest condolences

Batman rages of in the direction of the batmobile and Knightwing followed after him. The commissioner grabbed his daughters arm.

Jim: " you know im here If you need someone to talk to I'm here for you".

Batgirl: "I know thank you but I think I just need some time alone".

Jim: of coarse take your time".

Batgirl walked off. Knightwing caught up to Batman. Batman stopped.

Batman: you were right the mantle of Robin is cursed".

Knightwing: "I wasnt right, my role as Robin made a better stronger person and it will continue to. It will do the same for the next robin.

Batman: "There won't be another Robin".

Batman got in car and drove off leaving Dick standing there all alone. This is was one of the reasons he stopped being Robin it wasn't the fact that he was robin it was how brice treated him when he was robin and even now he still treats him the same. Dick departed, just ready for today to end.

Barbra went to the hospital the next day to see Eddie, she got him a bouquet of purple flowers. Before she walked in the room she looked through the window and saw Eddie sitting up talking to a girl sitting in chair next to the hospital bed. For some reason Barbra felt disappointed almost upset and she couldn't understand why. Eddie saw her through the window and his eyes went big and then he starts to smirk which Barbra would consider anyone who smirks a shit head person but being a some what good judge of charichter knew Eddie was different. That smirk was actually kind of charming, it belonged there(Ironically more than you know Barbra).Barbra opened the door and walked into the room.

Eddie: "Babs, you came and you brought flowers how sweet"

Barbra face turned red, he was messing with her, so she shrugged it off and put the flowers on the table next to the hospital bed. The girl sitting next to Eddie got up and embraced Barbra in a hug.

Emily: Thank you for saving my brother he all the family I have left.

Shes his sister, this relieved her of whatever she was feeling earlier. Barbra then noticed girl currently hugging her was crying.

Eddie: "calm down Emily, oh Babs meet my sister Emily and Emily you've already met Barbra".

Emily let go and wiped the tears out of her eyes and looked down at her watch.

Emily: "I've got to go to work, it was nice meeting you Barbra".

Barbra: " it was nice meeting you too".

Emily: Eddy I'll be back this afternoon.

Eddie: oh yippee can't wait

Emily rolled her eyes at his sarcastic comment and exited the room and Barbra sat in the chair next to the hospital bed.

Barbra: So how are you feeling

Eddie: I'm feeling good soon I'll be out of here in 5 days

Barbra: you'll be out on Friday .

Barbra looked at the floor

Eddie: what's wrong

Barbra: nothing

Eddie gives her a look

Barbra: a friend of mine died yesterday, his name was Jason, he was like a brother to me.

Eddie: I'm so sorry if you need anything I'm here for you I mean right here I'm gonna be right here for five days.

Barba chuckled a little

Barbra: Thanks

Eddie: Your welcome.....,now I got a very Importent question for you.

Barbra: what

Eddie: what's your favorite color

Barbra looked at him for a moment

Barbra: that's your important question

Eddie: yes

Barbra rolled her eyes at him

Barbra: I've always been parshel to purple

Eddie: my second favorite color I can already tell were gonna get along just fine

Barbra couldn't help but laugh at his antics, but on already serious note she agreed. Eddie would be her first real friend who didn't go out at night in a goofy looking costume.

Barba: so what is your favorite color

Eddie: Green

NOTES

Knightwing isn't a misspelled at least in this case, in my universe that's how you spell it and yes its a play on dark knight.

Jason is dead of coarse not how he originally how he did in the comics I kinda redid it a little or lot whichever and Joker carrys a crowbar, were all screwed.

I know it's obvious red hood will be in the series so I want to hilight on the part where knightwing trys to convince batman that Jason wouldn't want him to kill joker but that iorny considering Jason gets mad at batman for not killing joker.

In this version, Nigma is Eddie's original last name.

Edwards middle name is evan in my version mostly cause I couldn't find his real middle name but also because I wanted somthing that stated with e. Edward Evan Nigma or Edward E. Nigma to me it makes more sense plus that's how most people shorten there name.

Used some slight flirty behavior and when I say slight I mean slight because In my head he a romantic and you know you have to include the smirk.

Thanks to that bar Eddie has a round scar on his chest hmmm almost like a bullet wound and the Joker caused it.

Emily Nigma or E.Nygma I used the original shortening for her name, we kinda had to.

I would like to mention that in this verse this is batman year 4.

Dick was Robin for two and a half years.

Jason was Robin for one and half years.

Barbra has been batgirl for 2 years.

Batman has fought Mr Zaz, Joker, Harley Quinn, Penguin, Catwomen, and Professor Pyg

Catwomen is reformed at least for now who knows if it will last.

If you remember me talking about those special crossover Q&A if these charicters are involved in those question they have a one near there name, they awnser and charicters from different stories will have different numbers next there names.

This story isn't finished still needs editing but it's good enough you'll read and get the main gist and there's gonna be more chapters