Workplace Bullying and Job Performance in the Malaysian Public Sector: Examining the Mediating Role of Work Engagement

Abstract

Following the enactment of the Penal Code (Amendment) Act 2025, psychological harassment has been formally criminalised in Malaysia, highlighting the urgency of understanding its organisational consequences. This study investigates the impact of workplace bullying on job performance among support staff in the Public Works Department (PWD) Sarawak and examines the mediating role of work engagement. Grounded in Public Service Motivation (PSM) theory and the Job Demands–Resources (JD-R) model, data were collected from 504 support personnel using the Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R), the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale (UWES-9), and the Individual Work Performance Questionnaire (IWPQ). Hayes’ PROCESS Macro (Model 4) with 5,000 bootstrap resamples was employed to test the mediation model. The results indicate that workplace bullying significantly reduces job performance both directly and indirectly through diminished work engagement. The findings suggest that bullying operates as a high-intensity job demand that depletes motivational resources essential for effective public service delivery. These results underscore the importance of integrating legal reform with organisational strategies to strengthen psychological safety and employee engagement in the Malaysian public sector.