End workplace abuse: The downward spiraling effect of workplace incivility on BIPOC’s mental health

Dr. Jorgensen received a BC Ministry of Health Institutional Grant to develop an online portal to support equity-seeking frontline service employees who have experienced workplace incivility.

This project aims to develop an online portal to support equity-seeking frontline service employees (FSEs) who have experienced workplace incivility that can impact on their mental health. Workplace incivility includes a wide range of deviant workplace behaviours ranging from inappropriate jokes, rude, offensive, or aggressive comments, harassment, and/or singling out one or more individuals for some kind of mistreatment that may occur within the organisation or at the boundary of the organisation (Hershcovis, 2011). We focus on equity-seeking frontline service employees (FSEs) and propose that the service industry, which employs significant numbers of employees lacking an extended education and higher-level job skills may be less likely to implement EDI initiatives due to these factors and the types of work contracts usually offered FSEs. This can leave employees from equity-seeking groups especially susceptible to unfair or abusive treatment and its consequences on their mental health.
The objective of this project is to address the need for an accessible type of intervention to mitigate the negative impact of workplace incivility on equity-seeking FSEs’ mental health. The portal will be used for data collection and research dissemination, knowledge sharing, and creating awareness of the prevalence and harmful impact of workplace incivility on the mental health. Ultimately, the portal will serve as a mental health intervention and facilitated space for supporting those who have lived experiences with workplace incivility and for gathering and reporting on research on workplace incivility and its impact on employee mental health.
___________
Hershcovis, M. S. (2011). Incivility, social undermining, bullying… oh my!: A call to reconcile constructs within workplace aggression research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 32(3), 499-519.