Retirement Harassment!　During the handover, what the company should pay attention.

2022.09.16

Human resources are an asset to a company. Therefore, employee resignation is a major loss. Many companies want to retain as many employees as possible and try to persuade those who wish to leave.
In this case, you should be aware of so-called "severance harassment.

In this issue, we will discuss what the company should pay particular attention to during the handover.

What is workplace power harassment in the first place?

What exactly is power harassment in the workplace? The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare defines "power harassment in the workplace" as fulfilling the following three elements.

(i) Words and deeds based on a superior relationship
(ii) Items that exceed the necessary and reasonable scope of business
(iii) Those that are detrimental to the working environment of workers

Power harassment is not limited only to what a superior does to a subordinate. Note again that harassment by a senior or junior employee with excellent sales performance or by a colleague is also defined as power harassment.

Starting in April 2022, the Power Harassment Prevention Measures (Power Harassment Prevention Law) has become mandatory for employers of small and medium-sized companies. For many companies, strengthening anti-harassment measures has become a necessity.
Many small and medium-sized employers may be troubled by the need to take additional preventive measures against power harassment.

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Power harassment that can occur after the decision to resign

This issue will focus on the so-called "severance harassment" that plagues employees after they have decided to resign.
Power harassment that can occur after the decision to resign is as follows

Retirement is stalled.

When you inform the company of your intention to resign, they may not approve your resignation, stating that "you are a necessary person for the company" or "we will be short-staffed if you quit.

They put you in charge of jobs that are not feasible.

When you inform the company of your intention to resign, you may be assigned a very large workload and difficult tasks. Furthermore, the company may not approve your resignation until the work is completed.

They do not allow paid leave.

When a prospective retiree applies for paid leave, the company may not approve the request for paid leave because "the handover to the planned successor is not sufficient," etc.

They make unreasonable demands.

When you tell a company that you are resigning, the company may tell you that they will file a claim for damages. Reasons for this include being pulled out of another company or resigning during the contract period.

They tell me I'm not taking over.

The company wants to make sure that the handover is done properly. If the handover is inadequate in any way, it may lead to problems such as not accepting the resignation notice.

It is even possible that the person who committed these acts does not consider them to be "power harassment" but rather actions taken for the benefit of the company. However, all of these statements and actions can be harassment. Be especially careful if you are in a leadership position.

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Succession is essential for the survival of a company.

Particular emphasis should be placed on handover at the time of retirement. Handover does not only occur when an employee resigns; it is also necessary when an employee transfers. Transfers and retirements occur frequently, and a smooth handover is essential for the company's survival.

Without a solid handover, the successor will be confused. The importance of a thorough handover is obvious, since a successor without a handover will need a lot of time to perform the same tasks as his or her predecessor.
Therefore, it is recommended that the company prepare a response plan in advance.

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Resignation harassment during handover

One of the most common types of retirement harassment during a handover is the coercion of the prospective retiree by the company to take over.

It is important for both the successor and the client that a firm handover be made to the next person in charge.
However, forcing a company to take over, for example by saying that the company will not recognize the resignation without the handover, is very likely to violate the law, and care should be taken to avoid such a situation.

For a smooth retirement, both the prospective retiree and the company should make sure that the handover process is thorough.

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Benefits to be gained by the company through power harassment countermeasures

Today, various companies are taking measures to combat power harassment as well as harassment at the time of retirement. It seems that these measures may bring unexpected benefits to the company.

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has released a report on "Survey on Power Harassment in the Workplace," which has the following advantages

Increased confidence in the company
Change in work environment
Increased work ethic
Decrease in the number of employees taking leave and leaving the workforce

FY2020 Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare Commissioned Project: Survey on Harassment in the Workplace Report (Summary Version)

These reports suggest that power harassment measures can increase the motivation of traditional employees and may reduce the number of employees who leave the company in the first place.
A company without power harassment is a place where any employee can work comfortably and may not even have to make the decision to "resign.

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Communication is the key to preventing retirement harassment

Communication is still the fundamental factor in preventing severance harassment. It is important to note that it is not "communication" in which the supervisor speaks one-sidedly to the subordinate, but rather how to create an environment in which it is easy to speak from the subordinate's perspective.

This is where not only the supervisor's communication skills must be improved, but also the subordinate's skills must be improved as well. It is important that supervisors and subordinates feel "psychological safety" with each other. Do they both feel that it is safe to talk about anything here as a team?

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Summary

In order to create a workplace free of power harassment, it is important for each employee to have a proper awareness of harassment as well as the company's attitude. The important thing is to acquire solid knowledge and to avoid becoming either a victim or a perpetrator of harassment. Online training is recommended as an easy way to acquire knowledge about harassment.

For in-house elearning courses, learningBOX will help you effectively.

learningBOX is a cloud-based elearning platform and you can easily build training courses online.
Created content will be delivered to employees and you can track their learning progress.

Institute for Harassment Studies repairIn addition to the flexible content creation, personalized learning will boost each employee's understanding and knowledge by customizable settings.

There will be something you can do to improve your work environment.

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Harassment
Impact on the Workplace

Harassment refers to annoying behavior such as harassment or bullying of a person. It does not matter whether the harasser has malicious intent or not, if the harassed person feels mentally uncomfortable, it constitutes harassment.