Most people recognize that we shouldn’t actively harm others at work. Yet people tend to assume that failing to act is relatively benign or inconsequential.

Imagine witnessing an employee being belittled by a coworker. As a manager, should you step in or could staying on the sidelines give employees room to resolve conflict themselves?

Our new research demonstrates that “perceived managerial inaction” — the belief that a manager has failed to act in response to a negative experience — can have devastating consequences in the workplace. We examined how employees react when they believe their manager has failed to respond to a harmful or disrespectful incident.

Across an experiment and surveys involving hundreds of employees, we measured whether people felt their manager had a duty to intervene, whether they believed that duty was violated and how this shaped their trust, well-being and behaviour.

Because of their formal position of authority, managers have the obligation to protect their employees from harm and maintain a safe and ethical work environment.

We use the term perceived employee-directed managerial inaction to describe situations in which employees believe their managers have not acted to prevent or address potential harm to them. Three conditions need to be present for employees to perceive managerial........

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