Your Rights Regarding Bullying In The Workplace

Although there aren’t any regulations or laws in the United Kingdom to defned workers' rights that explicitly outlaw bullying in the workplace it has received a great deal of attention over the last decade or so and there are a number of regulations that can be used to tackle aspects of it.

Often the hardest thing is for the person doing the bullying to realise and acknowledge that their behaviour is that of a bully. Although there are overt bullies who know full well when they are throwing their weight around, often it is more subtle and the perpetrator thinks that they are just having fun, or aren’t consciously aware that they have been treating one person differently from others.

The Nature of Bullying In The Workplace

In the workplace peer-to-peer bullying is usually about the way a person is treated in front of others, being demeaned or belittled, criticised and undermined, in order to isolate the target. In a work context the target may be prevented from getting their fair share of decent tasks and heavily criticised in a group for things that others appear to get away with. With manager-to-subordinate in a business, a common bullying tactic is to set unrealistic goals and then change them as time progresses, or ensure the target is passed over for promotion or has the credit for their work stolen.

Without wanting to diminish the horror of bullying in the workplace it is worthwhile for someone who believes they are a victim to talk informally to another colleague or manager in the business about the situation. It could be that someone who, for example, believes they are being given more and more work may actually find out that, because of commercial pressures, it's happening to everyone and they aren't being singled out.

Sage Advice About Bullying In The Workplace

Assuming that's not the case then the next step regarding bullying in the workplace would be to talk to a union representative or someone in the employer's human resource department, or a direct manager or supervisor, unless they are the one doing the bullying. One piece of advice from the government's Direct.Gov website is for the victim to actually speak to the person doing the bullying, as they may not realise how they are coming across. The victim should work out what to say beforehand and stay cool and polite. This advice is likely to have been written by someone who has not been bullied and therefore is not aware of how it affects people's capacity to take on such tasks.

A better piece of advice regarding bullying is to keep a diary of events as and when they happen. This can prove invaluable not only in evidence against the bully but also may correlate with events that management have noticed and offer a different explanation for them than may have been given by the bully. Of course, this won’t in itself stop the bullying but can be very useful later on if the victim decides to take out a grievance procedure.

As far as workers' rights go, all firms should have a grievance procedure but it is likely that the first step is to take the complaint to a line manager in the business, and they may well be the person doing the bullying. In this case it's acceptable to take the complaint to someone in the employer's human resources department, if there is one, or another manager. If the firm is too small for that and is perhaps run by the bully, and particularly if the bullying is violent or abusive, then you could take legal action although you would be well advised to seek independent advice before acting. This would also be the case if you felt that raising a grievance would lead to further victimisation or harassment. It's an area that's hazy on workers' right

Where To Go Next If You're Bullied In The Workplace

The main recourse to the law for someone who is being bullied in the workplace is likely to be through the laws covering discrimination and harassment, although the workers' right involved depend on the nature of the bullying and the subjects used by the abuser. For advice on workplace bullying there are charities that can help out, such as the Andrea Adams Trust and the National Bullying Helpline, both of which can be found online or in phone books. The Citizens Advice Bureau and the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service can also help.