"A Climax of Humiliation": The Bullying Epidemic in the Israeli Labor Market

This week, the story of Yehiel Ohav-Ami was published, a 61-year-old employee at the Prime Minister's residence and father of a child with a disability, who claimed verbal and physical bullying by the Prime Minister's wife, Sara Netanyahu. Although this case involves allegations of very serious, abnormal, and extreme behavior, it is unfortunately a widespread phenomenon, which it is likely that a significant portion of those who were shocked by watching the interview with him also suffer from.

According to a study published by the Institute for Occupational Safety and Hygiene, the level of workplace bullying in the Israeli economy is very high. The data indicates that 64% of employees experienced some form of aggressive behavior at their work: 12.9% experienced it on a monthly basis, 9.2% on a weekly basis, and 4.4% on a daily basis. According to another study conducted by the Ministry of Economy, not only has every second employee in Israel suffered or is suffering from bullying or harassment at work, but as a result, there has been a decrease in motivation among half of the victims, and for 11% of them, the bullying led to complete dysfunction.

Occupational psychologist Eitan Mairi, author of the book "Bullying at Work" and one of the leading researchers in the field, explains that workplace bullying is the use of practices intended to humiliate, undermine confidence, isolate, and hinder employees in their roles, by exerting direct or manipulative force. It is one-sided, does not maintain and does not allow for dialogue - and the goal of the offending party is to bully the other for non-professional reasons. In other words, workplace bullying is not intended to promote and benefit the business, but to humiliate and trample the other. It is important to emphasize that workplace bullying is considered as such when the harm is repeated and continuous in separate incidents over weeks and months.

According to data from the National Histadrut, presented in the Knesset during a discussion held in the Labor and Welfare Committee, this phenomenon leads to the loss of about 2 million work days per year and damage of about 1.5 billion NIS per year to the economy. According to him, the damage caused to the Israeli economy each year exceeds 25 billion shekels.

According to research data worldwide and in Israel, men offend men and women, although more often men (60%) than women. On the other hand, women offend women more (65%) than men (35%). It also emerges that in 75% of cases, the offender is the direct supervisor or someone on their behalf. In contrast, in 5% of cases, it is an employee who makes their supervisor's life impossible. In the remaining cases, the bully can be anyone else in the workplace.

The phenomenon and its negative consequences have not escaped the legislator's eyes, but the bill for the prevention of workplace bullying, which was approved in a preliminary reading in 2015, has been rolling since then between Knesset committees and the legal advisors of government ministries. At the same time, despite the lack of completed legislation, labor courts have effectively adopted the proposal and use it in their rulings.

Surprisingly, even within the corridors of the National Insurance Institute - the body responsible for the social security of work injury victims, this phenomenon also exists. Judge Dafna Hasson-Zacharia determined a few days ago that an outstanding department manager at the National Insurance Institute suffered from bullying and exclusion by the branch manager. This reached its peak in an incident of blatant ignoring, and therefore will be considered a "special event" that constitutes a work accident. The judge criticized the National Insurance Institute for acting as an "abusive employer" on its own premises.

The heart of the case dealt with an incident from June 9, 2020, which the plaintiff, through her attorney, Adv. Romi Honig, defined as "the straw that broke the camel's back." During public reception hours, the branch manager and other management officials conducted a professional conversation with an employee subordinate to the plaintiff, while completely ignoring the plaintiff despite her physical presence and despite the fact that the subject was under her direct responsibility.

The court accepted the claim that this was a "climax" of humiliation and professional dismissal, which deviated from the normal work routine and caused the employee severe emotional turmoil. Following the series of events and the defining incident, the employee began to suffer from insomnia, crying spells, and physical symptoms of fibromyalgia syndrome (chronic widespread pain throughout the body and severe fatigue).

Following her ruling, the court ordered the appointment of medical experts in the fields of psychiatry and rheumatology to examine the causal link between the bullying and the employee's health condition.

Adv. Honig, who represented the senior employee in the lawsuit against the National Insurance Institute, explains that the uniqueness of the case lies in the nature of the bullying: "Unlike the familiar image of shouting or aggressive managers, here a 'quiet bullying' was described - one based on belittling, bypassing authorities, and professional exclusion."

According to her, "The ruling sends a clear message to employers, and in particular to public bodies: bullying does not have to be loud to be recognized as a work injury. Intentional ignoring and professional exclusion are abusive tools that can lead to severe health damage, and in these cases, the courts will not hesitate to grant employees the protection they deserve."

"The problem will not solve itself," explains Mairi, "but a series of steps must be taken to address it: the legislation of the law for the prevention of workplace bullying must be completed, regulations must be created for it, and a prolonged nationwide campaign must be promoted to raise awareness of the phenomenon of workplace bullying and its damages. Just as the law for the prevention of sexual harassment changed the discourse and approach in workplaces to the subject, so too will the law for the prevention of workplace bullying change management and leadership practices in workplaces for the better, and will lead to a dramatic reduction in bullying incidents. All employees and employers will benefit from this."

He also suggests promoting the execution of in-depth research in the fields of medicine, psychiatry, economics, and labor studies on the damages caused as a result, with the goal of developing advanced approaches for monitoring and preventing bullying.