In Malaysia, the issue of bullying and mental stress among medical personnel is not new, but only recently it got due attention from the relevant authorities following the death of a trainee doctor in Penang, which was associated with bullying.
A task force, the Healthcare Work Culture Improvement Task Force, has also been set up by the Health Ministry to investigate allegations of toxic work culture in the ministry's healthcare facilities.
Findings of a study on workplace bullying among junior doctors in Malaysia conducted by researchers from the Faculty of Medicine of Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), Universiti Malaya (UM) and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) revealed that at least one in 10 young doctors perceived they were being bullied at work.
The findings published last year in The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences (MJMS) also listed down the types of bullying experienced by participants.
The top five types included being ordered to do work below level of competence; being humiliated or ridiculed in connection with work; having key areas of responsibility removed or replaced with trivial or unpleasant tasks; being shouted at or being the target of spontaneous anger; and pressure to not claim something they were entitled to.
Surprisingly, not only did they suffer bullying from the negative action of their seniors, that is, medical officers and consultants.
A total of 31 per cent of participants also reported that the perpetrators included nurses and support staff.
Workplace bullying does not happen only in the healthcare sector, but also in other occupational categories as well.
A survey conducted by Chan et al. between May and July 2017 involving 5,235 participants from 47 corporate companies in Malaysia revealed 39.1 per cent respondents or more than one in three employees reported ever being bullied in the workplace.
It's much higher than the reported global work bullying prevalence rate of approximately 15 per cent in developed and developing countries.
Workplace bullying causes many adverse effects on employees' mental and physical wellbeing, leading to poor job performance and decreased productivity and quality of work at the organisational level because it does not only affect the victim, but also the work group.
The most common type of bullying is verbal abuse. In Malaysia, verbal abuse alone is not punishable by law. It is only punishable when the perpetrator threatens to inflict physical harm or cause unlawful damage to the property of others.
There are several channels available for bullied victims to seek redress, such as complaining to the respective human resource unit or lodging a report with the Human Resources Ministry, which can conduct investigations based on the Employment Act 1955, Industrial Relations Act 1967 or Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994.
Unfortunately, many choose to suffer in silence as they fear losing their jobs.
From an Islamic point of view, workplace bullying should not have happened. In a hadith narrated by Abu Hurairah, the Prophet (SAW) said: "The Muslim is the one from whose tongue and hand the people are safe, and the believer is the one from whom the people's lives and wealth are safe."
In a hadith qudsi — a hadith as to the meaning is from Allah the Almighty and as to the wording, it is from the Prophet (SAW) — Abu Dharr al-Ghifaree reported: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, "Allah Almighty said: O My servants, I have forbidden injustice for Myself and I have forbidden it among you, so do not oppress one another."
Both hadith denote that Islam neither advocates any form of oppression, nor does it condone any form of hostility or intimidation towards others. Conversely, bullying signifies the perpetrator's weakness of iman (faith in Allah) and lack of taqwa (being conscious and cognisant of Allah).
Those with strong iman and taqwa do not give problems or trouble to others, instead, people will feel comfortable and happy with their presence.
In fairness, there is no stress-free job in this world. Nevertheless, employers and employees should try to create a conducive work environment, where every staff member can feel comfortable, safe and protected to carry out daily tasks.
The writer is fellow, Centre for Economics and Social Studies, Institute of Islamic Understanding Malaysia (IKIM)
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of the New Straits Times