EFFECTIVENESS OF MEDIATION FOR WORKPLACE BULLYING DISPUTES IN IRELAND: A VICTIM'S PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Bullying in the workplace is a contemporary phenomenon that affects victims' emotional and physical health while costing organisations millions in lost productivity and employee turnover. There is a continuing debate in the literature about whether mediation should be used as an alternative to address workplace bullying disputes. The primary objectives and aim of this research are to evaluate the prevalence of workplace bullying among Irish workers, assess victims' willingness to participate in mediation, and formulate a conclusion from the perspective of the participants on the effectiveness and acceptability of the process, as well as make recommendations to society about approaches to reduce workplace bullying. This study employs a quantitative research approach centred on a questionnaire in order to achieve its aims and objectives. The questionnaire, which was distributed to the broad public and across various communities, catches the overall populace's expectations and perspectives of mediation in the sense of bullying at work. According to the questionnaire results bullying is still occurring at an alarming rate in Ireland, far beating expectations. In short, the majority of participants accept to use mediation to settle their bullying cases. Furthermore, the majority of respondents believe in the effectiveness of mediation and prefer it over litigation as a method of dispute resolution. Finally, the participants expressed hesitations about disclosing cases of bullying, raising concerns about the efficacy of the country's anti-bullying policies. The overall conclusion of this study is that mediation performs a significant role in tackling workplace bullying conflicts. Nevertheless, Irish organisations and the Government must encourage an anti-bullying culture and more stringent legislation to prevent bullying at work. Mediation must be used on a relative scale, only in cases when there is no major abuse or possibility of further mistreatment. Generally, this framework coupled with tighter regulations would prevent and reduce work-related bullying.