Your Rights Regarding Bullying In The Workplace

Although there aren’t any laws in the UK that explicitly outlaw bullying in the workplace, 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. The victim may be prevented from getting their fair share of decent tasks and may be heavily criticised in a group for things that others appear to get away with. A common bullying tactic is for a manager to set unrealistic goals for a member of staff and then change them as time progresses, or ensure the victim is passed over for promotion, or has the credit for their work stolen.

Taking Action

Anyone who believes they are a victim of bulling in the workplace should talk informally to another colleague or manager 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.

Assuming that's not the case, then the next step regarding bullying in the workplace would be to talk to a union representative, a member of HR, or a direct manager or supervisor, unless they are the one doing the bullying. One piece of advice from the government's directgov 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 try to stay cool and polite.

Another 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.

The Next Step

The main recourse 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 National Bullying Helpline, the Citizens Advice Bureau and ACAS (the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service).