Bosses bullying subordinates, harassing subordinates, do you know? You are at risk because your behavior and what you are doing may be illegal. In this article, let’s understand the law. What kind of boss behavior is considered a cause for employees to take legal action?
Legal issues related to being bullied or harassed in the workplace
Bosses bullying subordinates or being bullied at work by coworkers is a major problem that occurs in almost every organization. The perpetrators may do it because they think they have the power to do so because no employee would dare to complain or sue them. As for the victims, they should be pitied because being bullied causes stress, pressure, and annoyance, making them unhappy at work. Their work results may also be bad, which is a result of poor mental health due to being bullied and bullied at work.
Bosses bullying subordinates or being bullied by coworkers, those who are victims no longer have to worry because there is a law to protect them. Because in fact, in our country, there are laws that protect and defend victims such as employees. The victims are the employees themselves who can report the bullying or harassing them. In this case, whether it is the boss, the boss, the coworker, or others, such actions are considered criminal offenses under Section 397.
What does Section 397 of the Criminal Code say?
Referring to Section 397 of the Criminal Code, it states: “Whoever acts in any way to another person in a way that is a form of bullying, intimidation, threatening, or acts in a way that causes embarrassment or annoyance shall be punished with a fine not exceeding 5,000 baht. If the offense under paragraph one is committed in a public place or in front of the public, or is committed in a manner that suggests sexual harassment, the punishment shall be imprisonment not exceeding one month, or a fine not exceeding 10,000 baht, or both. If the offense under paragraph two is committed because the perpetrator has power over the victim due to the relationship as a commander, employer, or other person with authority, the punishment shall be imprisonment not exceeding one month and a fine not exceeding 10,000 baht.”
For the offense under Section 397, it will be considered a minor offense, which means that it is an offense that can actually be settled at the investigator level. However, if the victim wants to fight to the end, they can continue to file a complaint to proceed to the next step of the court case. For example, if the bullied employee feels and sees that settling the case is unfair, they can proceed with the case.
What is the penalty if a boss bullies his subordinates or is bullied by his coworkers?
Bullying in the workplace can happen whether it comes from a boss or a coworker or an employee and an employer. It is a dispute that may occur in the workplace. Therefore, bullying in the workplace may be an illegal act under the charge of bullying, intimidation, harassment or causing embarrassment or annoyance. And if the perpetrator is a boss or business owner, the offense will be considered a serious offense, which will be punished more severely.
As mentioned earlier, this type of offense is a minor offense, which carries a penalty of up to one month in prison or a fine of up to ten thousand baht, or both. If the offender claims that he or she did it unintentionally, he or she will still be punished. However, a minor offense is considered a minor offense, and the investigator has the power to choose to impose a fine only if he or she deems it appropriate that the person should not be imprisoned. The accused and the victim must agree to allow the investigator to impose a fine, because this minor offense focuses on preventing disputes between individuals from escalating and preventing the criminal offense from escalating to the point where they cannot live together peacefully.
What types of bullying behavior pose a criminal risk?
Behavior 1: Being severely scolded and warned by your boss in front of everyone in the office.
In terms of work, everyone can make mistakes. As a good boss, you should call your subordinates to warn them, but it must be a private warning, not a harsh scolding or verbal abuse in a crowded area. For example, scolding your subordinates for being loud or scolding them in front of other people in the office. If the work-related mistake is considered a minor one, but the boss makes it a big deal, scolding the subordinates who made the mistake in public, causing the subordinates to feel embarrassed, the subordinates can also complain about it.
Behavior 2: Being threatened by your boss with a salary reduction or benefits reduction.
Basically, before we start working anywhere, every employee must have a clear agreement with the employer about how much salary they will receive. And there is rarely a salary reduction if the employee has not really done anything wrong. Or if there is a mistake, most companies tend to choose to punish the employee in other ways. Therefore, if we are threatened with a condition that if we do not agree to do the assigned work, we will have a salary reduction or various benefits reduced, if we are being treated like this, it is definitely considered bullying.
Behavior 3: Being assigned work by your boss that you cannot do or work that is not valuable.
Starting from the day an employee applies for a job, everyone must have their own job description specified. If they actually start working, sometimes they get to work outside of their duties. If we look at it positively, it is a good thing. It is an opportunity for us to practice new skills and gain new experiences. But on the contrary, if we are given unfair tasks, or our boss harasses us to do work that is not within our scope and capabilities, which escalates to the point where we are harassed to make mistakes in our work, or our boss does not like us for whatever reason, assigns us work that is not valuable or unnecessary, and when it is time to evaluate our work, he gives us a lower score than normal and says that we have no significant achievements, these issues can also be considered as faults.
Behavior 4: Being unfairly evaluated by your boss.
Performance appraisal is an important matter because there is a high chance that employees will not receive justice due to the boss’s discrimination. In terms of performance appraisal, the boss should be clear and straightforward in order to reduce doubts or arguments. It should not discriminate by giving high scores to favorite subordinates who may not have done any serious work. On the contrary, they should degrade and give low scores to subordinates whom they dislike even though they have done a good job and have clear results. If we are in this situation, we can take legal action against such matters.
Behavior 5: Being intruded on by your boss or coworker, or revealing your personal secrets to others at work.
Everyone has personal matters that they don’t want to reveal to anyone. And if in the end the secret leaks to other people, especially the people who like to gossip at work, and they talk about it further until it damages us, we will need to take legal action. Especially if it is a family matter, an affair, or an illness, these matters should not be talked about or made to embarrass anyone. Or being intruded into personal matters too much. For example, people who like to pry into other people’s matters. This group of people tend to want to know other people’s personal lives too much, which makes the victim feel uncomfortable. This is another offense that we can file a complaint about.
Behavior 6: Being gossiped about behind our backs by our boss or coworkers.
People who like to gossip, these people exist in every society. Especially in the workplace, I must say, they exist everywhere. If we accidentally make a mistake (which is unavoidable) and our coworkers find out and spread the news to unrelated people in the workplace, causing damage to ourselves or even the boss. We should not expose our subordinates’ mistakes and gossip to others. If we encounter a situation like this and can’t stand it anymore and want to get revenge on these people, we can also file a complaint.
Conclusion
At this point, we should understand and see the legal channels that can help us in cases where we are victims of our boss, owner, or coworker. For bosses or anyone who is doing wrong and hurting others’ feelings, please know that you are also at risk of being prosecuted criminally. People who behave like the 6 types of examples mentioned above, if they are actually charged with a crime according to Section 397 of the Criminal Code, will have a hard time finding work.
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