Can Managers Become Victims Too? Three Legal Lessons for Business Leaders from When You Are Bullied by Your Subordinates

Since the workplace bullying provisions of Taiwan’s Occupational Safety and Health Act formally took effect, companies have begun paying greater attention to preventing managers from bullying their subordinates.

However, while recently reading the new Japanese book When You Are Bullied by Your Subordinates, I came across a question that deserves serious consideration by every chairperson, HR executive, and manager:

What if the manager is the person being bullied? Is the company prepared?

The book does not attempt to justify high-pressure management. Instead, it reminds companies that workplace conflict does not always flow from the top down.

When subordinates repeatedly refuse to follow reasonable instructions, deliberately delay work, abuse complaint procedures, publicly defame their managers, or manipulate public opinion through social media, they may prevent managers from exercising legitimate managerial authority and gradually undermine the organization’s entire management system.

For companies, the key issue is not which side holds formal authority. The real concern is whether any person is using improper methods to disrupt legitimate workplace order.

Keywords: workplace bullying, upward bullying, corporate governance

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1. Managerial Authority Is Legally Protected and Should Not Be Abandoned Out of Fear of Complaints

The Occupational Safety and Health Act protects the dignity of workers, but it does not eliminate an employer’s lawful managerial authority.

Managers may still assign work, require satisfactory performance, conduct evaluations, and implement Performance Improvement Plans, provided that their actions remain within the scope necessary and reasonable for legitimate business purposes.

The book points out that many managers gradually become afraid to demand performance or correct mistakes because they fear being accused of workplace bullying. The result may be managerial paralysis.

True compliance does not mean giving up management. It means establishing management procedures that are lawful, objective, consistent, and properly documented.

Keywords: managerial authority, PIP, lawful management

2. Companies Should Prevent Abuse of the System Without Undermining Its Credibility

The new law establishes a comprehensive complaint system to protect workers who have genuinely suffered unlawful treatment.

However, if a person deliberately makes allegations inconsistent with the facts or uses the complaint system to pressure a manager or avoid legitimate performance management, the conduct may increase investigation costs and weaken confidence in the system itself.

The book reminds companies that HR departments should establish objective investigation procedures and determine what occurred on the basis of evidence, interviews, and verified facts.

A company should not presume that a manager must be at fault merely because the complainant is a subordinate.

Mature corporate governance requires fair protection for every worker, including both managers and subordinates.

Keywords: complaint system, investigation procedure, legal risk

3. In the New Legal Environment, Management Skills and Legal Skills Are Inseparable

I often tell corporate managers:

“Today, you manage the team. Tomorrow, a court may review how you managed it.”

The greatest value of When You Are Bullied by Your Subordinates is that it reminds managers not to respond to workplace conflict emotionally. Instead, they should protect themselves through proper procedures, documentation, communication, and consistently applied management standards.

An email, a LINE message, a performance record, or the notes from a management meeting may later become important evidence in an investigation.

Companies should therefore do more than train managers not to bully subordinates. They should also teach managers how to protect themselves while exercising lawful authority and build a management culture that balances performance, human rights, and legal compliance.

Keywords: management records, labor-law compliance, corporate culture

Attorney Chen Yeh-Hsin’s Reminder

I recommend When You Are Bullied by Your Subordinates not because I believe upward bullying has become the dominant form of workplace bullying, but because the book offers companies a valuable alternative perspective.

The central question in a workplace bullying case should not be limited to whether the alleged perpetrator is a manager or a subordinate. The proper inquiry is whether the specific conduct exceeded reasonable boundaries.

A healthy corporate culture does not abandon management because employees may file complaints. Nor does it ignore human dignity merely because managers hold authority.

Instead, it finds an appropriate balance among proper procedures, fairness, and evidence.

As your company strengthens its workplace bullying prevention measures, has it also established a labor-law compliance mechanism that fairly protects both managers and subordinates while balancing managerial authority with employees’ right to file complaints?