Work-related suicide and violence on the rise globally

Work-related suicides and employer/coworker abuse is a hot news topic again.

Last year, abusive work environment resulting in bullying and violence came to the fore when it was revealed that France Télécom had undergone a rash of suicides around the same time as a high profile murder at Yale. Now with the recent Foxconn situation in China, in which 13 employees attempted suicide in a short span of time - 10 of them successfully - coming to light [N.B. some of the deaths being classified as "suicide" is challenged by family members - Ed] it is once again becoming a topic of discussion.

While the examples cited above are foreign, is a global concern; Canada is 37th of 104 countries listed in order of prevalence of suicide in the population (11.6 suicides per 100,000 people) and more than twice as many men commit suicide than women. It spans socio-economic levels, race/culture, and age. And it's not always peer-on-peer bullying, manager-employee abuse, or an existing mental illness exacerbated by stress: sometimes the organization itself is sociopathic.

A quick search of recent related news items brings:

• Vancouver Sun: More than 200 B.C. RCMP employees now on sick leave
  "More than 200 RCMP employees in B.C. are on sick leave, including many for stress caused by conflicts with their supervisors."
• MSNBC: Workplace suicides in the U.S. on the rise
  Discussing a few recent deaths and the 2008 Stats that showed that a "record number of workers took their lives while on the job in 2008"
• Chosun Ilbo: Russian Space Technician in Attempted Suicide
  "He told police he attempted to kill himself because he was "unable to cope with the stress" before the launch of the Naro rocket."
• NDTV: Indian falls from office building in Abu Dhabi, dies
  Discussing a rash of Indians working in the Middle East committing suicide
• AFP: EU firms failing to tackle stress at work: survey
  "only 26 percent of EU organisations have procedures in place to deal with stress."
• Earth Times: Workplace bullying often starts slowly before it snowballs
  "Those being harassed report that fellow employees initially ignore their victims, leaving them out of everyday work flows so that they no longer feel connected to what is going on around them"

There are certain similarities in most of the stories: seemingly absent management when it comes to issues of stress management, coworker interactions, and workplace culture. What differs is the outcome - suicide, murder, cowed employees - and, of course, damaged corporate reputation.

This article from earlier this month compares the situation at the French Post Office with that of France Télécom, that nation's poster child for dysfunctional corporate culture. It suggests it is headed down the same path. The document it references analyzes the situation and identifies three issues at the Post Office:

• Stress at all levels - overwork from unrealistically long shifts plus surprise additional deliveries for absentee coworkers
• Unsustainable objectives - continually shifting goal posts and job requirements;
• Distressed middle management - dealing with the unreasonable demands of their bosses and the confusion of the staff they are managing

The top tier, of course, deny this assessment is accurate, claiming they are "surprised and shocked" by the "baseless accusations". And, oh yeah, they have a commitment to health and safety at work, including an anti-bullying policy.

What not to do.

When employee "suicide attempt" number 12 - Sun Danyong, who allegedly jumped to his death off his building after being detained, interrogated, and beaten by the company's security team and management for losing track of one of the Apple iPod prototypes - brought the spotlight on their operations, Foxconn's first thought re: how to deal with it was to try to get employees to sign a pledge not to commit suicide. Oddly enough, that brought more negative press.

That bad press rubbed off on Apple, who suddenly discovered that 25% of the workforce manufacturing their iPods and iPhones didn't even get one day off a week, in clear violation of Apple's stated "Code of Conduct" that says workers are not to work more than 60 hours a week. In reality, Foxconn had required workers to put in at least 80 hours of overtime each month, in violation even of the local labour law's limit of 36.

Then one more employee attempted suicide - and failed. After attempting to sue the journalists who revealed their labour practices for $3.77million USD, Foxconn seems to have given up on sweeping it under the rug as a strategy and revisited a few of its policies. They formed "employee care centers" and hired psychologists to offer counseling. Some people seem skeptical of the sincerity of this new approach, suggesting that perhaps they should overhaul their management tactics and workplace policies.

Most places, thankfully, aren't that bad.

But why is it happening at all?

It is true that companies have fewer staff to to cover the same or increasing amount of work these days. It's not all about an economic downturn: there's a dirty little secret that no one seems to want to admit. An increasing shift to focussing on the end of the quarter instead of the long-term health of the company, has led many places to see a smaller payroll as a easy way to "find money".

Employees who see their coworkers let go beome fearful and destabilized, and unwilling to set reasonable boundaries for employers and management. Add to this the idea that everything can be done faster with the help of technology leads to unrealistic expectations both from management and the employee's targets for themselves. They work longer hours than is healthy, internalize criticism, and stress over the future.

Stress is often described as a downward spiral or cascade as one effect becomes the cause of the next health issue. E.g worry leads to disrupted sleep schedules, which leads to a slew of factors including lost focus, further anxiety, and even the inability to properly process nutrients, and more.

Here are some signs that your corporate culture fosters abuse:

• Expecting people to perform their jobs without all the tools required;
• Pitting employees against each other under the guise that "competition is good for business";
• Allowing rumours, bullying, and verbal abuse to continue unabated;
• Continually shifting the goal-post as far as job targets are concerned;
• Not honouring lieu time and vacation days, especially through subtle pressuring.

If you think the company you work for is destructive and are worried that you might be in danger of "snapping" here are some signs to be on the look out for, from Richard Shadick, director of Pace University's Counseling Center, as mentioned in the MSNBC piece:

• Persistent depression or sadness that lasts for long periods of time and impairs ability to function at work or in relationships
• Verbal altercations
• Excessive drinking

Steps to take to ameliorate what is happening:

• Tell someone outside the company. Talk to someone trustworthy who understands how workplace dysfunction is expressed - and talk to them as soon as you start to feel that something is off. If you wait, you may find that you start telling yourself that you are imagining it or that you are responsible for the abuse.
• Document everything. Write it down - don't rely on your memory. It will help paint the correct picture for others as well as being a touchstone for you as the situation progresses.
• Take it up the food chain - if your immediate supervisor doesn't deal with the situation, take it higher. Find out if it is systemic.
• Know your legal rights. In Canada, Constructive Dismissal is covered under Part III of the Canada Labour Code. The link describes it as "situations where the employer has not directly fired the employee. Rather the employer has failed to comply with the contract of employment in a major respect, unilaterally changed the terms of employment or expressed a settled intention to do either thus forcing the employee to quit."

If you are responsible for the health and wellness of the employees and your work environment undermines it, you need to speak to someone about Oganizational Development soon. There are many companies who deal with this including Wellergize. Feel free to browse the site and then Contact Us when you are ready to have a free preliminary consultation.

Good luck!

Posted by: gisela on 2010-06-28 02:20:20

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