Bullying in the workplace is a serious problem. Failure to deal with workplace bullying can be very costly for an employer, and cause a great deal of stress for employees. A large number of the cases we deal with involve bullying by co-workers, managers and bosses.

Bullying can include:

• physical contact such as pushing,
• verbal abuse such as swearing; or
• psychological abuse such as work being constantly undermined by management.

Bullying can range from a minor irritation to a deliberate attempt to drive the employee out of the job.

Bullying affects everyone involved. The employee being bullied may suffer psychological and physical problems such as high stress levels, anxiety and sleep disturbances. This in turn can result in reduced output and performance, mistakes and increased sick leave – all costly for the employer.

Many victims of bullying are reluctant to complain because the complaint may result in more bullying, limits to their career, or appearing petty and oversensitive.

Employees

What can you do if you feel you are being bullied at work?

Keep a record of the bullying – dates, times, and what happened. If there are witnesses, get them to record what occurred.

If you are suffering from stress, sleeplessness, low self esteem or are generally depressed about what is happening – seek medical assistance, and make sure any symptoms are well documented.

Tell your employer about what is happening to you. Your employer should have procedures for dealing with your complaint, and should follow them.

If nothing is working and the bullying has become unbearable, you could initiate a personal grievance against your employer, for failing to ensure a safe workplace in allowing it to be excessively stressful.

You may have been constructively dismissed if you have resigned in the belief that there were no other options available to you. This may also be grounds for a personal grievance.

A personal grievance must be submitted to the employer within 90 days of the incident.

Employers

What can you do to prevent bullying in the workplace?

Establish a code of conduct that sets out appropriate behaviour for your organisation. Make it clear that bullying will not be accepted.

Set up procedures so that staff can report the situation, confident that the complaint will be taken seriously.

Educate staff as to how to tell you about bullying.

Ensure that procedures include, if necessary, counselling for the victim.

Advise the alleged bully that you are investigating the claim and ask them for their response. Consider their response and then decide (on the basis of all the evidence) what happened and the appropriate action to take. The appropriate action will depend on the findings you make following the investigation and should match the level of seriousness of the incident. This may include advising the complainant on the outcome of the investigation, warning the bully, arranging training on management techniques or even dismissal.

Bullying is unacceptable in the workplace, and workers have the right to be protected from unreasonable conduct that may ultimately have serious consequences for their future employment and health.