Handling Employee Threats of Self-Harm: How Can Managers and HR Respond Effectively?

Handling Threats of Self-Harm in the Workplace

This issue has arisen in many discussions where a team member, when assessed below performance standards or facing any unacceptable issue, threatens their immediate manager with committing suicide or taking other drastic actions. How should a manager handle this situation or employee, and what HR safeguards are available to assist the manager in dealing with this challenging scenario?

Thank you.

Dear Gurdeep, The employee in question is asking for an eager ear who can give him/her patient listening. The issues are going to run way beyond the current work situations. Please be prepared for them. Most of these issues are beyond anyone's control and any option to resolve them. They merely need time, during which he/she needs to grow up to face and accept it.

Finding a Counselor

Please find a counselor amongst your leaders who is ready to make that effort for him/her. It may or may not be productive at all. However, as an HR professional, that remains your only option. Eventually, the employee will move out of your organization to other roles. You can only offer balance and stability until then. Let him/her be guided to the best of your capabilities.

Wish you all the best!

Regards,
Cite Contribution

I agree with Ms. (Cite Contribution), but you must inform the same to his/her family immediately whenever you find this problem because, in this kind of situation, people can often be found in two scenarios that we can't actually deny. The very first is that one can be seriously considering suicide, which can be dangerous to both parties. Second, this employee might just be acting to gain benefits. Therefore, what the HR Manager has to do is handle this situation very wisely.

First Step

The Manager has to take it easy by saying that they are going to give him/her another chance of a few more days to perform, which he/she has to accept. The employee who threatens always expects a quick answer from the Manager/Employer, which is really important and a complicated situation for both parties.

Second Step

The Manager needs to assign this job to a colleague or friend of this employee to ease the situation, so the immediate situation can be handled or controlled, and the Manager/Employer can get time to take further and corrective actions. (Also suggested by Ms. (Cite Contribution) above)

Third Step

The Manager must arrange a counselor for this employee and inform the same to the family of this employee. However, sometimes the employer/Manager feels that this action can make the employee more impulsive and affect them negatively, but because in any case, if the employee takes action, the employer can be found accountable for the situation.

Like Ms. (Cite Contribution) said above, “You can only offer balance and stability.” These three quick steps can help the Manager handle the situation wisely.

Firstly, let me say that you've come up with a real-time problem that many of us face. Coming to your query, I feel that such employees are either at extremes: either very naive or very smart. They are individuals who fear that if they lose this job, they would never find another, which would disturb their social status and personal life. Alternatively, they are so confident, like blackmailers, that they believe if they take such steps (only a verbal warning), the company will back down and do whatever they want. They are so smart that even during the interview process, it is difficult to identify this attribute.

Steps to Handle Challenging Employees

Ideally, A.K. Arora has mentioned the steps beautifully that can be taken to handle such a situation. However, I feel that, in addition to that, it is better for a company to also identify a way to ask such an employee to leave once things are smooth.

Regards.

This type of situation is very frequent in the lives of HR personnel. I have also come across a similar situation where an ex-workman wrote a letter to our Management and threatened to commit suicide. He mentioned in his letter that he was paid less VRS amount and due to his numerous liabilities (son's education/daughter's marriage, etc.), he was mentally disturbed and unstable, and would commit suicide. The workman had opted for VRS and was relieved after receiving all legal payable dues. His actions were, of course, instigated by one of the rival union leaders.

In response, I replied to his letter, stating that he had opted for VRS on a specific date and was relieved after all legal dues were paid. We enclosed all relevant documents and clarified that the decision to opt for VRS was his own, without any influence from the Management. Additionally, I highlighted that threatening the Management with suicide was a pressure tactic to extract more money, which is unlawful under IPC and subject to legal action. Copies of the letter were sent to the local SHO, SP, DM, Labour Commissioner, Chief Inspector of Factories, and Boilers. A separate letter was also sent to the SHO requesting intervention in the matter. As a result, the ex-workman was booked under the relevant section of IPC.

You may consider taking similar steps. Seek advice from your legal counsel and promptly send a letter. Highlight his declining performance, and if there is a mechanism in place to measure his performance, showing it to be below average would be beneficial. Don't forget to send copies to relevant Government officials. The threat may materialize if left unaddressed.

Regards,
Rakesh Pd Srivastav

Understanding the Root Causes of Suicidal Threats

Threatening to commit suicide is often due to a lack of confidence. It is a natural instinct for human beings to protect themselves from the threats they are facing. As humans, it is our responsibility to thoroughly investigate the root causes of the problems surrounding us and seek solutions with the help of skilled individuals.

Talk to his family members and inform them about his suicidal tendencies. Advise him to seek professional help and recommend a suicide helpline or a professional counselor. If possible, assist him with bill reimbursement, etc., if your company policy permits that. The moment he is in the threat-of-suicide zone, it becomes a serious matter. Do the right thing. Do everything you can as a human to help him, but do not give a higher performance rating just because of the pressure of his suicide threat. Also, whether he is not performing well or is very intelligent, you wouldn't want him on the team for long. If he is bluffing, he is setting a bad example and introducing a non-performance-related issue into decision-making. If, God forbid, he actually does something terrible, you and several others in the office might have to handle an unnecessary headache.