Welcome to Workplace Bullying.NET

Every day people are bullied at work. It can be shocking to discover that respected work colleagues can subject you to the type of actions which you thought that one had left behind at school.

What is bullying?
Bullying has been defined as aggressive behaviour arising from the deliberate intent to cause physical or psychological distress to others.  This contrasts to tough management where there is an absence of intent to cause distress and the focus, however clumsy, is on achieving some form of target.

How can bully behaviour manifest?
In extreme cases bullying behaviour is overt where someone is being physically and verbally aggressive. Less extreme is covert aggression which includes actions like manipulation of holiday schedules, making excessive demands for output, being unfairly critical of a worker in front of other people, influencing promotion prospects or spreading rumours about the worker. As Andrea Adams writes “Recognition is a major problem because bullying is rarely confined to derisory remarks or open aggression. It can be subtle, devious and immensely difficult to confront for those whose confidence and self-esteem has been exposed to a misuse of personal power and position.” For more information on how bullying can manifest, please click here. 

What are the key legal issues relating to bullying?
Unless bullying has a focus such as being due to race or disability, there is no specific legislation to consider. Essentially you need to look at a variety of employment, personal injury and criminal legislation and case law and then tailor it to your client’s circumstances. This will include consideration of such legislation as the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 namely the duty of care to staff and whether the alleged victim has enough evidence to argue that he or she has been constructively dismissed. Please see our legal section for further guidance on this issue.   

Why has bullying not received attention?
Bullying within the workplace still remains a relatively unknown topic; This lack of interest may be due to general ignorance of the subject (it is still perceived only as something that happens to children), that it is embarrassing for someone to admit that they are being bullied and a view in society that victims should not allow the situation to arise in the first place. For victims, please click on the practical steps section, on how to deal with bullying.        

How prevalent is it?
Despite this, the prevalence of bullying within the workplace is widespread (according to one survey at least 50% of the population will have witnessed or experienced an instance of workplace bullying) and unacceptable. It is a depressing fact that individuals frequently give up their jobs or careers, suffer stress and experience relationship problems (or worse) directly due to being bullied within the workplace.