What to do if your boss yells and humiliates: useful advice from a psychologist

Why do managers humiliate subordinates?

Agree, everything happens for a reason. Your boss takes his anger out on his subordinates for a reason. However, do not rush to blame yourself.

• Probably yours the director was captured by his own image. For some reason, it seems to some people that a real leader must be domineering, tough, and ignorant of politeness and compassion.
  

  By raising his voice to a subordinate, the boss feels like he’s in charge and makes it clear “who’s boss.”

• The next reason is banal lack of self-confidence . Ironically, timid people sometimes hide their true selves so carefully that they make others think they are incredibly strong and brave. The created mask allows them to achieve success in social life: they are influential and occupy leadership positions. However, they are constantly haunted by an obsessive thought: what if someone finds out that they can give in?
• The boss is losing his nerve . A tense period for the company, stress, problems in your personal life - all this one way or another leaves an imprint on behavior. Another question is that this is not very professional. This syndrome is called emotional fatigue, overwork.
• There is a version that your boss is no stranger to sadism . Especially if he doesn’t disdain swear words and likes to practice on his subordinates. There is a common phrase that “There is no worse master than a former slave” - in this case it is one hundred percent true. Self-affirmation through humiliation of others is disgusting, yes, but it exists.

What threatens the accused under Art. 5.61 Code of Administrative Offenses

Art. 5.61 of the Code of Administrative Offenses contains three points.

Paragraph 1

An illegal act is punishable by a fine in the amount of:

• 1000–3000 rub. for individuals;
• 10,000–30,000 rub. for officials;
• 50,000–100,000 rub. for organizations.

Point 2

For defamatory statements posted in the media and other publicly accessible sources, a fine is imposed in the amount of:

• 3000–5000 rub. for FL;
• 30,000–50,000 rub. for persons holding administrative positions;
• 100,000–500,000 rub. for YUL.

Point 3

Those guilty of connivance leading to the release of offensive expressions into public domain are punishable by a fine of:

• 10,000–30,000 rub. for officials;
• 30,000–50,000 rub. for legal entities.

Read more about the concept of insult to personality under the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and the Code of Administrative Offenses of the Russian Federation - read on our website https://lexconsult.online/5863-chto-takoe-oskorblenie-po-koap-rf-administrativnoe-ugolovnoe-nakazanie-za-nego

Does he have the right to shout?

Unfortunately, thousands of people have no idea how to really communicate within a work team. They are also not familiar with the concept of etiquette. Of course, superiors do not have the right to yell and humiliate subordinates.

IMPORTANT ! There are many methods of influencing a negligent employee - a reprimand, a fine, deprivation of bonuses, dismissal, in the end.

Constant scandals in the workplace indicate that “the fish rots from the head”: the boss fails to cope with the responsibilities assigned to him and is unable to regulate the activities of the employees who are subordinate to him.

Don’t forget that we are all human: everyone has a bad streak. If the director shouted a couple of times due to temporary difficulties, this can be forgiven. But regular humiliation and insults must be stopped.

If your boss humiliated you in the presence of your colleagues or offended you in front of everyone, then it makes no sense to endure it in silence. This is harmful to both your health and the microclimate at work.

By the way, did you know that employees who are yelled at by their boss are more prone to heart attacks than those who work in a calm, adequate environment?

There are often cases when the boss is an ordinary tyrant and does not see his own shortcomings. It is useless to argue with him or respond to aggression with aggression - in any case, he will be confident that he is right.

In this case, you need to develop a plan for further action and a line of behavior with an unbalanced boss. Whatever the reason for the screaming, you can’t react to problems like that.

How can you resolve a conflict with your boss?

To resolve a conflict with superiors, it is necessary first of all to negotiate and find out the circumstances that cause shouting, insults and humiliation of the employee. Suppose that the employer is not satisfied with the professional qualities of the employee, then it is necessary to find out how to correct the situation. You should discuss with your boss the insults you received and ask not to repeat them in the future.

As a rule, when eliminating shortcomings in an employee’s work activity, the employer no longer has reasons to raise his tone, shout and humiliate him.

But, unfortunately, there are cases when the confrontation between the two sides of the labor relationship continues and is accompanied by humiliation and insult to the employee.

What to do - advice from a psychologist

Let's talk about how to behave in a conflict with a manager when he unfairly accuses you or raises his voice.

1. Conduct yourself with dignity . Don’t gossip, don’t inform your boss about your colleagues, don’t get involved in dubious stories - in a word, take care of your reputation so that during the next scandal it will be difficult to reproach you for something specific.
2. Take a closer look at your behavior . The boss’s cry is not always an empty sound. If you are regularly late, do not comply with the dress code, or do not meet deadlines, then it is time to reconsider your habits and correct your mistakes.
3. Remember that you have rights . If necessary, you should remind the aggressive director: you can easily sue him, you just need to provide evidence. Perhaps this will pacify the law-abiding boss a little. By the way, this actually works, but filing a lawsuit is not an easy process.
4. Try talking to the director alone . He/she may feel a personal dislike towards you, and if this is true, it is worth finding out the real reason: if only for the sake of a productive work process. Just be sure to do this one-on-one - the boss will not show off in front of his colleagues, will not be able to avoid an important conversation and will be forced to focus on your problem.
5. Respect yourself . Trying to smooth out rough edges during a conflict, you risk finding yourself in a dependent position. You need to know where your professional responsibilities end and the whims of your boss begin.

If insults have become a regular practice

It is important to understand that insults do not indicate the professionalism of the boss and do not increase the employee’s productivity, but they are quite capable of becoming the basis for bringing to administrative responsibility.

There is a possibility that the situation can be transferred to a peaceful plane, having settled the conflict. If negotiations do not help, you must turn to the protection of the law. Rudeness is a direct attack on human rights specified in the Constitution. The Basic Law of our state does not allow the humiliation of the honor and dignity of an individual. Insult is a direct humiliation of honor and dignity.

Sometimes the situation can be resolved by appealing to higher management, over the head of the direct one. Sometimes this solves the problem. In the absence of such a manager or his response, it is necessary to consider the possibility of contacting one of the following authorities:

• Labour Inspectorate;
• police;
• prosecutor's office;
• court.

After the appeal, the authenticity of the facts indicated by him will be verified and if they are confirmed, the issue of bringing the guilty party to justice will be considered. The court does not conduct an inspection, it considers the claim, but it needs to provide compelling arguments in order for the decision to be made in favor of the plaintiff.

How not to behave in a conflict?

Now let's discuss what is prohibited to do when the boss is rude and humiliating at work.

• Under no circumstances should you ingratiate yourself with the director in order to gain his precious trust. Moreover, all kinds of small gifts are prohibited. Not everyone will appreciate your initiative. In addition, the method is very unreliable and does not provide any guarantee that the boss will calm down and begin to behave acceptably.
• You cannot follow his example - never, under any circumstances. You will only demonstrate imbalance and bad manners to your colleagues.
• You should not discuss the director with other employees behind his back . Gossip has never led to anything good. And human decency is a very relative thing: today you are discussing an evil boss with a co-worker, and tomorrow a colleague is sitting in the boss’s office and telling you that you do not comply with corporate ethics.
• There is no need to dwell on this problem . If you can’t change your job, then just ignore the negativity. Find yourself a new hobby, spend more time with your family. Get plenty of rest.

Responsibility for harassment at work

We answered the question of what to do if a manager insults and humiliates, now let’s move on to responsibility. If a boss yells at a subordinate or insults him in an indecent manner, he faces a fine of up to 30 thousand rubles, and the organization - up to 100 thousand rubles. If insults were expressed in a public speech, the maximum fine for officials increases to 50 thousand rubles, and for legal entities - to 500 thousand rubles.

In addition, if a boss yells and insults at work, forcing him to quit, he may be held liable for failure to comply with labor laws. A primary violation faces a fine of up to 5 thousand rubles, a secondary violation - up to 20 thousand rubles. Disqualification is also provided. The manager may be suspended from office for up to three years.

Crimes against honor and dignity

Some bosses try their best to kick undesirable employees out of their workplace.
Moreover, often their actions and words may be aimed not at the quality of work duties performed, but at the personal qualities of the employee. Any unpleasant statements and actions that can be regarded as a violation of official discipline and personal space of a citizen are crimes against the honor and dignity of a person. These unlawful acts are punishable under criminal law.

First of all, the employee must file a complaint with the prosecutor, who, based on the results of reviewing the application and all attached documents, will decide to initiate a case.

After this, law enforcement officers (as a rule, a district police officer, labor inspectorate employees, an assistant prosecutor) take actions aimed at establishing the existence of negative statements regarding the injured party. Such activities are carried out by individually interviewing each colleague of the victim.

According to the law, the total time for conducting such an investigation should not exceed 30 days. All collected materials are sent to the court, where the case is considered within 2 weeks (maximum duration under heavy workload).

Crimes against the honor and dignity of a citizen entail administrative or criminal liability (depending on the severity of the offenses).

How to act when insulted by superiors

The reaction to irritation on the part of the immediate supervisor is determined by what exactly the boss wants to achieve from his subordinate.
If a citizen is sure that the manager is insulting him without reason, for example, simply because of personal hostility, such actions must be appealed to the labor inspectorate. Experienced specialists will be able to establish for what reasons the boss took his anger out on his subordinate: for personal reasons or under psychological influence. However, it is better to start drawing up such a complaint after receiving an explanation from the accused. In this case, the document will be able to set out all the circumstances of what happened. At the same time, during the preliminary conversation, it is necessary to inform the manager about the desire to appeal his actions to the labor inspectorate. As practice shows, most of these problems are solved without the involvement of authorized government bodies.

What not to do

Unfortunately, people often sacrifice themselves and overstep their principles in order to please their boss. Such actions are wrong, as they can aggravate the difficult relationship between employer and employees. The use of a defensive reaction is primarily aimed at preserving the psychological health of the employee.

How to correctly write a statement of insult

A complaint about insult to the labor inspectorate or prosecutor's office must contain the following information:

1. The essence of the problem;
2. Date and time of the incident;
3. Personal details of the boss;
4. Data on the employment contract or other agreements regulating the employee’s work at the enterprise.

Advice! It is advisable to provide video or audio evidence of what happened.