Will it be gossip spreading the news that Ted and Rachel are getting married before they publicly announce it?
Is it gossip to speculate whether Carol, the accountant, is pregnant with her second child?
When does gossip cross the line from harmless, commonplace conversation to something potentially harmful, damaging, or liability that companies have the right to ban?
In a December 2013 ruling, Administrative Law Judge Donna Dawson of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) invalidated what she called an “overbroad” anti-gossip policy at Laurus Technical Institute in metro Atlanta. did. The institute had fired Jocelyn Henderson after she discussed an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) complaint she filed alleging sexual harassment and retaliation by her manager.
The school had a restrictive no-gossip policy that prohibited discussing a person’s personal or professional life when that person or their manager was not present. It also prohibited “making negative or derogatory comments or criticisms about anyone.” Creating, sharing or repeating rumors about others. Discussing work issues and conditions of employment with other employees. ”
The judge concluded that the policy violated the National Labor Relations Act.
John Hyman, a partner in the labor and employment group at Ohio-based Corman Jackson & Krantz PLL, said the institute’s policy is based on Section 7 of the law, which provides for “protected joint activities” of employees. stated that it was in violation. In layman’s terms, this means that the law protects workers’ right to speak out about wages, working hours, and other terms and conditions of employment.
“The judge concluded that someone could read [the policy] “We can’t talk about how much we make, how our bosses make us work long hours, or what happens to our jobs at work.”
What is gossip?
“Gossip” has various meanings. For some, it only refers to malicious or actionable stories about someone that don’t reach that person’s ears. Some people believe that gossip only includes untrue stories, while others believe that gossip can include true statements. Still others believe that “gossip” is any talk about personal or organizational matters, whether personal or professional, harmless or defamatory.
For example, Peter Vajda, an Atlanta-based speaker and author of business coaching speakers, defines workplace gossip as a form of workplace violence, noting that it is “essentially a form of aggression. ”.
At TLK Healthcare, a healthcare recruiting firm based in Austin, Texas, there are gossipy employees who badmouth their bosses without offering solutions or talking to co-workers about problems. It contains.
But some amount of workplace gossip is actually healthy, according to Rieva Lesonsky, CEO of GrowBiz Media, a media and custom content company for small businesses.
“It shows the camaraderie between the teams,” Lesonsky explained in a phone interview with SHRM Online. “But if it starts to hurt someone’s feelings or affect morale or attitude, that’s when it crosses the line. You have to watch carefully to know when that happens.”
Sometimes gossip “is a harbinger of something real and makes you realize what you need to work on as a manager,” she added.
The dangers of gossip
Workplace gossip can be very serious, but if the gossiper has a lot of influence over the recipient, authors Nancy Kurland and Lisa Hope Perdo say, “Getting the word out: Towards a model of workplace gossip and power,” he writes in the article “Getting the Word Away: Towards a Model of Gossip and Power in the Workplace.” April 2000 issue of The Academy of Management Review. The negative effects of workplace gossip include:
- Deterioration of trust and morale.
- Loss of productivity and waste of time.
- Rumors spread without clear information about what is true and what is not, increasing employee anxiety.
- Divided opinions among employees as people take sides.
- hurt feelings or reputation;
- Attrition due to talented employees leaving due to unhealthy working conditions.
company policy
Many companies have formal policies to limit gossip in their employee handbooks. Given recent NLRB rulings, how can we be sure that these policies are not so “broad” as to be unenforceable?
First, the policy must clearly state that it does not limit an employee’s right to speak about wages, hours, and working conditions. Rather, it’s about gossiping about non-work-related issues, Hyman said.
Additionally, he added, organizations need to determine the line between harmless banter between colleagues and conversations that could lead to legitimate health, safety, or harassment concerns.
“Frankly, you can’t stop people from talking about so-and-so cheating on their spouse or this morning smelling like alcohol,” Hyman said. “That’s human nature. But there’s definitely a line to be drawn, for example when safety is a concern. [with] Issues of harassment or whether someone felt talked about because of their race or gender. If this happens, you will be held responsible if you do not deal with it. ”
Lesonsky said employers cannot use anti-gossip policies to prohibit ordinary complaints about supervisors, and Laurus Technical Institute appeared to be trying to do that.
“As a manager, you definitely have to hold back a little bit, because there’s always going to be some level of resentment toward your boss,” she says. “If someone says, ‘He’s a really stubborn person,’ you have to let it go. But if you start saying, ‘She drinks at lunch every day,’ It undermines your authority and credibility, and you may need to take action at that time.”
Because it’s so difficult to create a policy against gossip, companies may want to focus instead on educating employees about the dangers of talking about co-workers behind their backs, Hyman said. Stated. “Build this into a broader effort to address any behavior you want to call out, whether it’s bullying or just unprofessional behavior.”
Lesonsky said another approach is to hire a business coach.
“There are people who specialize in team behavior, and they’re a lot like marriage counselors,” she explained. “They sit people down and talk about what’s at the root of the problem. [the gossip]And perhaps they learn that people are upset because managers give preferential treatment to certain employees. Depending on where you are on the management team, you may need to check the entire train to see if there are any weak spots. ”
Gossip by email
Corporate email can be a particularly dangerous way to spread gossip because messages can be easily forwarded to unintended recipients. In an article published in the November 1996 issue of Mass High Tech magazine, Warren Agin, an attorney with Boston-based Swigert & Agin LLC, argues that companies must He wrote that people should be warned not to use the network for gossip purposes.
“Employees often treat email communications like verbal conversations, saying things they would never say in a letter or memorandum,” he said. It is necessary to clearly define the
Because of this informality, workers tend to make poor decisions when writing emails, sometimes using derogatory language, opinions contrary to company policy, messages contrary to company interests, or using “inflammatory tones.” “It would simply include poorly selected content,” he said.
“Companies should include email policies in their employee handbooks and educate employees about the dangers inherent in email use,” he wrote. “To regularly reinforce messages, companies should distribute a copy of the policy to all employees at least once a year. Email policies should define the extent to which employees should communicate via company equipment. We need to clearly define what privacy expectations people have.”
