Doctors serve humanity. They dedicate their profession to the welfare and health of mankind. That is why the medical profession is recognised as one of noblest professions in the world. Without denying the role of other frontline workers, contributions by medical staff all over the world become more apparent for their tireless effort in combating the unprecedented Covid-19 when the pandemic was at its peak. We should be grateful for their dedication and courage during the pandemic which now enable our life to return to normalcy.
Nevertheless, doctors are human beings like anyone else. Due to the nature of their job, they are also subjected to emotional distress, occupational stress and burnout. The risk increases especially among young trainees who are being bullied or harassed at the workplace.
In Malaysia, the issue of bully and mental stress among medical personnel is not new, but only recently it has got its due attention from the relevant authority following the death of a trainee doctor in Penang which was associated with bully victimisation. A task force, that is, the Healthcare Work Culture Improvement Task Force has also been set up by the Ministry of Health 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 a group of 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 Malaysian young doctors perceives being bullied at work. The findings which was published in 2021 in The Malaysian Journal of Medical Sciences (MJMS) also lists down the types of bullying experienced by participants. The top five types of bullying endured by the victims are namely: 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 target of spontaneous anger; and pressure to not claim something they are entitled to.
Surprisingly, not only do they suffer consequence of negative action of their seniors, that is, medical officers and consultants as 31 per cent of participants reported that the perpetrators also include nurses and support staff.
Workplace bullying does not only happen in the health care sector, but also in other occupational categories as well. A survey conducted by Chan et al. between May and July 2017 involving 5235 participants from 47 corporate companies in Malaysia reveals that 39.1 per cent of the respondents or more than one in three employees reported ever being bullied in the workplace. In comparison, the rate is 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 effect on employees’ mental and physical wellbeing. This in turn is translated into poor job performance, decrease 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 workplace bullying occur in the form of verbal abuse. In Malaysia, verbal abuse alone is not punishable by law. It is only punishable when the perpetrator threaten to inflict physical harm or cause unlawful damage to the property of others. However, there are several channels available for bullied victim to seek redress of workplace grievances such as complaining to the respective human resource or lodge a report with the Ministry of Human Resources which can conduct investigations based on the Employment Act 1955, Industrial Relations Act 1967 or Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994. Unfortunately despite the available means of complaints, many of them choose to suffer in silence as they fear of losing their jobs.
From an Islamic point of view, workplace bullying should not have happened in the first place. 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 hadiths denote that Islam does not advocate 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 iman and taqwa do not give problems or troubles to others, instead people will feel comfortable and happy with his presence wherever he is, either at the workplace or any other places.
In summary we ought to admit that there is no stress-free job in this world. Therefore, it is advisable if one could prepare oneself mentally and physically before entering or committing any employment contract. Nevertheless, both employers and employees should try to create a conducive work environment where every staff feels comfortable, safe and protected to engage in daily task performance and work responsibilities. The rationale of this is that happy workers care more about their organisation and they are highly motivated to make it achieve its goals.
