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<st1:place w:st="on">OB</st1:place> colleagues,

An interesting question came up in class that I'd like you to weigh in on: In circumstances where there are indications of potential workplace violence, what are the obligations of employees to report to work functions related as violence becomes more of a threat*? What is the legal responsibility of the employer to acknowledge the threat, announce it, and other elements of maintaining employee safety?

*"Violence is a process, as well as an act. Violent behavior does not occur in a vacuum. Careful analysis of violent incidents shows that violent acts often are the culmination of long-developing, identifiable trails of problems, conflicts, disputes, and failures." From OPM Threat Assessment-http://www.opm.gov/Employment_and_Benefits/WorkLife/OfficialDocuments/handbooksguides/WorkplaceViolence/p3-s2.asp#threat

Thanks,

Dan

______________________________________________
Daniel E. Martin, Ph.D. | Associate Professor, Department of Management | <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placetype w:st="on">College</st1:placetype> of <st1:placename w:st="on">Business</st1:placename></st1:place> and Economics | email: daniel.martin@csueastbay.edu | phone: 510-885-2060

Link w/ me @ www.linkedin.com/in/danmartinvp | SSRN Author page: http://ssrn.com/author=884752 

Dan -

First of all, how are you defining "potential" and  "violence?" 

Secondly, when you are talking about an employee's obligation, are you talking about legal or ethical?  Are we differentiating between managerial and non-managerial employees?  Union vs. non-union employees?

Thirdly, are we assuming that the potential violence comes from within the organization or from outside the organization - shareholders, vendors, customers, etc.

I guess I have more questions than answers!

John Yudelson

CSU Channel Islands

Communication faculty

Hi

I can't speak for U.S. jurisdictions but in Canada workplace violence is often dealt with under the provisions of occupational health and safety law.  In all jurisdictions that right enshrines 3 fundamental rights (the right to know about hazards in the workplace, the right to refuse unsafe work, the right to participate in OHS programming).  Applying those principles would suggest that there is a limited right to refuse job functions that pose a high risk of violence (I say limited because the legislation would exempt occupations in which violence is considered part of the job – police or prison guards for example could not refuse an assignment based on the risk of violence).  As with any hazard the OHS legislation requires employers to inform employees of the risk (particularly if there has been a refusal).  Although these are the "legal" obligations, I expect that the moral obligations are very close to the same thing.

Hope this helps

Kevin

OB colleagues,

An interesting question came up in class that I'd like you to weigh in on: In circumstances where there are indications of potential workplace violence, what are the obligations of employees to report to work functions related as violence becomes more of a threat*? What is the legal responsibility of the employer to acknowledge the threat, announce it, and other elements of maintaining employee safety?

*"Violence is a process, as well as an act. Violent behavior does not occur in a vacuum. Careful analysis of violent incidents shows that violent acts often are the culmination of long-developing, identifiable trails of problems, conflicts, disputes, and failures." From OPM Threat Assessment-http://www.opm.gov/Employment_and_Benefits/WorkLife/OfficialDocuments/handbooksguides/WorkplaceViolence/p3-s2.asp#threat

Thanks,

Dan

______________________________________________
Daniel E. Martin, Ph.D. | Associate Professor, Department of Management | College of Business and Economics | email: daniel.martin@csueastbay.edu | phone: 510-885-2060

Link w/ me @ www.linkedin.com/in/danmartinvp | SSRN Author page: http://ssrn.com/author=884752 

The FBI has a downloadable pdf file with "best practices" for employers to anticipate and deal with workplace violence. Here's the URL:

http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/workplace-violence. I use it in my classes in illustration.

I'm also quite interested in this topic, as we have recently had a former student (never graduated) who has demanded his tuition money back because he can't get a job (I had this student in class and believe that there are other reasons for his employment problems). He's shown up outside an instructor's classroom glowering and otherwise being pretty scary. Our campus police and administration are understandably torn with what to do about this, beyond sternly telling him to stay away from campus. The bottom line seems to me to be that it's difficult to deal with potentialities in a free society, even though the consequences could be devastating.

Nancy E. Day

Associate Professor, Human Resources & Organizational Behavior

HW Bloch School of Management

University of Missouri - Kansas City

5110 Cherry

Kansas City, Missouri 64110

816-235-2333

816-235-6506 (fax)

dayn@umkc.edu

Faculty Ombudsperson

University of Missouri - Kansas City

4747 Troost Room 20A

Kansas City, MIssouri 64110

facultyombuds@umkc.edu

816-235-1400

"The best thing for being sad," replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, "is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honor trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then- to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you."

T.H. White, The Once and Future King

From: Organizational Behavior Division Listserv [mailto:OB@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU] On Behalf Of Calvin Beyer
Sent: Thursday, March 10, 2011 6:57 AM
To: OB@AOMLISTS.PACE.EDU
Subject: Re: [OB-LIST] Workplace Violence Question

John,

See the OPM blurb (or the prediction of violence in the workplace literature to see signs of build up) in regards to potential. Violence in the case we discussed was threats of physical harm and aggressive acts toward other employees (verbal and physical intimidation). This would be potential violence from within the organization.

Thanks to you and the others who have responded,

Dan

Again, although there are jurisdictional differences, in some (including the province I live in) a credible threat is considered an act of violence rather than potential violence

John,

See the OPM blurb (or the prediction of violence in the workplace literature to see signs of build up) in regards to potential. Violence in the case we discussed was threats of physical harm and aggressive acts toward other employees (verbal and physical intimidation). This would be potential violence from within the organization.

Thanks to you and the others who have responded,

Dan