Abstract
The aim of this study was to determine (1) associations between workplace bullying and subsequent risk and duration of medically certified sickness absence, (2) whether employees’ perceptions of supportive, fair, and empowering leader behavior moderate the association between bullying and absence, and (3) whether prior sickness absence increases the risk of being a new victim of bullying. Altogether, 10,691 employees were recruited from 96 Norwegian organizations in the period 2004–2014. The study design was prospective with workplace bullying and leader behavior measured at baseline and then linked to official registry data on medically certified sickness absence for the year following the survey assessment. For analyses of reverse associations, exposure to bullying was reassessed in a follow-up survey after 24 months. The findings showed that workplace bullying was significantly associated with risk (risk ratio = 1.23; 95% CI = 1.13–1.34), but not duration (incidence rate ratio = 1.05; 95% CI = 0.89–1.25) of medically certified sickness absence after adjusting for age, gender, and supportive, fair, and empowering leader behavior. None of the indicators of leader behavior moderated the association between bullying and sickness absence (both risk and duration). Adjusting for baseline bullying, age, and gender, prior long-term sickness absence (>21 days) was associated with increased risk of being a new victim of bullying at follow-up (odds ratio = 1.86; 95% CI = 1.28–2.72). Effective interventions toward workplace bullying may be beneficial with regard to reducing sickness absence rates. Organizations should be aware that long-term sickness absence might be a social stigma as sick-listed employees have an increased risk of being bullied when they return to work.
Highlights
Specialty section: This article was submitted to Organizational Psychology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology
The aim of this study was to determine (1) associations between workplace bullying and subsequent risk and duration of medically certified sickness absence, (2) whether employees’ perceptions of supportive, fair, and empowering leader behavior moderate the association between bullying and absence, and (3) whether prior sickness absence increases the risk of being a new victim of bullying
The findings showed that workplace bullying was significantly associated with risk, but not duration of medically certified sickness absence after adjusting for age, gender, and supportive, fair, and empowering leader behavior
Summary
Specialty section: This article was submitted to Organizational Psychology, a section of the journal Frontiers in Psychology. Workplace Bullying, Leadership, and Sickness Absence bullying is not about single episodes of conflict or harassment at the workplace, but a form of persistent abuse where the exposed employee is unable to withstand or cope with the mistreatment (Einarsen, 1999; Einarsen et al, 2011) Both longitudinal studies and meta-analyses have established workplace bullying as a significant risk factor for health outcomes such as anxiety and depression (Nielsen and Einarsen, 2012; Verkuil et al, 2015), somatic complaints (Hoobler et al, 2010; Kääriä et al, 2012; Tynes et al, 2013), cardiovascular disease (Xu et al, 2018a,b), diabetes (Xu et al, 2018a,b), and disability retirement (Nielsen et al, 2017b). With some notable exceptions (e.g., NabeNielsen et al, 2016; Grynderup et al, 2017; Magee et al, 2017), little is known about the mechanisms and conditions that govern the association between the variables. (2) As shown in a review by Nielsen et al (2016a,b), most studies have only examined the risk of having sickness absence without taking the duration of the absence period into account. (3) The potential impact of sickness absence on subsequent risk of bullying has largely been ignored, and it is to this date not established whether being sick-listed can be a risk factor for later exposure to workplace bullying
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