A Systematic Review of Maldivian National Laws to Combat Workplace Bullying

Bullying has been identified as a leading workplace stressor because of its debilitating effects on individual employees, groups of employees, and organizations. A vast literature explores the nature and consequences of workplace bullying and demonstrates the need for the protection of employees in the workplace, such as through laws and policies. While some organizations include policies on workplace bullying and some laws can be applied to address workplace bullying, few seem to use these mechanisms to seek redress. Hence, this systematic review evaluates the complaint procedures, protection, prevention, and effectiveness of the current laws and policies on workplace bullying within the Maldivian context. The paper then discusses why seeking legal recourse from bullying rarely occurs through the legal system. A systematic analysis supplemented with five semi-structured interviews of key informants (members of the employment tribunal, lawyers, court judge, and registrar) was carried out to obtain an in-depth understanding of the current situation in the Maldives. The analyses reveal that the Maldivian legal system has many gaps that result in little or no protection from bullying in the workplace. The current legislative and regulatory framework does not adequately recognise the power that employers have over employees in certain types of bullying, and it mainly focuses on the protection from and prevention of “bullying” in the form of sexual harassment in the workplace. The Maldivian Constitution, which guarantees fundamental rights and freedoms to all persons in Chapter II (Arts.16-69), is vague when it comes to addressing bullying. This study acknowledges that workplace bullying policies are only one range of interventions for addressing bullying. Other methods of prevention are required to deal with bullying in workplaces.