KUALA LUMPUR, August 21 — The Ministry of Health (MOH) is the first ministry to introduce guidelines specific to workplace bullying, drafted by the National Centre of Excellence for Mental Health (NCEMH).
The “Guidelines on Management of Workplace Bullying for Ministry of Health Staff” – launched by Health Minister Dzulkefly Ahmad in Putrajaya today – provide specific guidance to heads of department and ministry staff in identifying bullying, reporting and investigating complaints, besides managing cases in a fair, transparent, and effective manner.
MOH cited its MyHELP channel set up in 2022 for workplace bullying complaints that enables direct reports to MOH’s Integrity Unit. Besides MyHELP, Sispaa remains the official channel for all types of complaints in the health service.
“Until July 31, 2025, a total of 430 complaints were recorded via MyHELP,” said the MOH in a statement today, without specifying how many were confirmed bullying cases or actions taken.
“All complaints will be thoroughly investigated, based on the principles of justice, transparency, and confidentiality to protect the complainant and related parties.”
The MOH also cited other measures, including the HEARTS guidelines on mental health support for house officers, flexible work schedules, MOH Corporate Culture Module 2.0, Akrab teams in each department as a source of emotional support, a counselling unit at the MOH headquarters and state health departments, as well as the Talian HEAL 15555 hotline.
Guidelines: HOD Responsible To Protect Bullying Victims, Bullies Referred For Counselling
The 48-page “Guidelines on Management of Workplace Bullying for Ministry of Health Staff”, which will be distributed to all MOH facilities nationwide, defines workplace bullying as a “type of behaviour that endangers a person or a group of people”, citing a 2022 report by the Healthcare Work Culture Improvement Task Force (HWCITF).
This includes physical, verbal, psychological, and cyberbullying.
Physical bullying is defined as actions that cause physical injury, like pushing, hitting, kicking, or slapping. Verbal bullying includes the use of words that hurt feelings, threats, insults, degradation, humiliation, or mockery.
Psychological bullying is defined as behaviour intended to “scare or cut down someone based on their choices or background; intentionally imposing excessive workloads; damaging an individual’s position, dignity, or status; or affecting someone’s emotional stability through isolation, gossip, or spreading rumours.”
Cyberbullying is defined as using technology like email, social media, or text to “threaten, insult, or spread false information to destroy a person’s reputation.”
According to the guidelines, workplace bullying complaints can be made on MyHELP by the victim or a third party. Usual cases take 15 working days for resolution, while complex cases take at least 16 working days.
Bullying complaints will be screened by the Complaints Committee; only bullying complaints with “complete information” will be processed.
An investigation report will then be sent to top management to determine resolution methods. A workplace bullying case will be considered resolved after a decision is informed to the complainant.
The guidelines list various interventions for bullying victims and heads of department. Bullying victims will get access to counselling services by psychology officers or psychiatrists (if needed).
Heads of department (HOD) are responsible for “providing protection to victims from any form of retaliation by the bully or other involved parties, including transfers to other departments or changes in work duties if necessary.”
The structure of that sentence is a little unclear, as in whether a bullying victim must be protected from transfers (a form of retaliation) or whether transfers of the victim are touted as a solution for victims to escape their bullies. The guidelines also do not state what can be done if the bully is an HOD themselves.
If an investigating committee’s report confirms a workplace bullying case and recommends disciplinary action, the HOD must send a disciplinary report to the Pihak Berkuasa Tatatertib. The bully, or officer suspected of bullying (PYDM), will also be referred for counselling sessions for intervention and monitoring.
The guidelines do not specify what kind of disciplinary action can be taken against officers who are confirmed to engage in workplace bullying.
Last month, contract doctors’ group Hartal Doktor Kontrak (HDK) highlighted the case of a houseman at Tawau Hospital in Sabah, who was allegedly bullied by a senior staff member, who fell into depression and locked herself up in her room for years.
Previously, the country was rocked by the high-profile case of chemical pathologist Dr Tay Tien Yaa from Lahad Datu Hospital, who was found dead by suicide in her 30s in August 2024.
However, an independent task force, which was chaired by former Public Service Department (JPA) director-general Borhan Dollah, found no evidence linking the young specialist’s death to workplace bullying or work overload.
Instead, Borhan suggested that Dr Tay, as a “city girl”, might have faced challenges adjusting to life in Lahad Datu, a remote town with limited resources. Hence, the sole recommendation from the task force was merely to implement support programmes for staff relocated between the peninsula, Sabah, and Sarawak.
