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Bullying and harassment means any unwanted behaviour that
makes someone feel intimidated, degraded, humiliated or offended. It is not
necessarily always obvious or apparent to others, and may happen in the
workplace without an employer's awareness.
Bullying or harassment can be between two individuals or it may involve groups of people. It might be obvious or it might be insidious. It may be persistent or an isolated incident. It can also occur in written communications, by phone or through email, not just face-to-face. Harassment and bullying can range from the extreme of physical violence to less obvious forms such as ignoring someone. They can be delivered in a variety of ways with or without witnesses, over a period of time or as a one-off act. You will find here information on all aspects of workplace bullying, harassment and sexual harassment, including the law and case law.
Bullying or harassment can be between two individuals or it may involve groups of people. It might be obvious or it might be insidious. It may be persistent or an isolated incident. It can also occur in written communications, by phone or through email, not just face-to-face. Harassment and bullying can range from the extreme of physical violence to less obvious forms such as ignoring someone. They can be delivered in a variety of ways with or without witnesses, over a period of time or as a one-off act. You will find here information on all aspects of workplace bullying, harassment and sexual harassment, including the law and case law.
Examples of bullying / harassing behaviour could include:
- spreading
malicious rumours, or insulting someone
- exclusion or victimisation
- unfair treatment
- deliberately undermining a competent worker by constant criticism
Harassment is unwanted conduct which is related to one of the
following: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil
partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex and sexual
orientation. Harassment is unlawful under the Equality Act 2010.
People do not always feel able or confident enough to complain, particularly if the harasser is a manager or senior member of staff. Sometimes they will simply resign. It is therefore very important for employers to ensure that staff are aware of options available to them to deal with potential bullying or harassment, and that these remain confidential.
What can I do about being bullied or harassed?
If you are being bullied or harassed, you should take any
action you decide upon as quickly as possible. It is always best to try to
resolve this informally in the first instance as sometimes a quick word can be
all it takes. However, if this fails there are a number of options to consider:
- see someone who you feel comfortable with to discuss the problem, perhaps someone in HR or company counselor.
- talk to your trade union or staff representative
- keep
a diary of all incidents, record: dates, times, witnesses etc
- keep any relevant letter, emails, notes etc.
Why should I as an employer act against bullying or
harassment?
Bullying and harassment create an unhappy and unproductive
workplace where you may have:
- poor morale and poor employee relations
- loss of respect for managers or supervisors
- poor performance / lost productivity
- absence / resignations
- tribunal
and other court cases and payment of unlimited compensation.
What can I do to prevent bullying or harassment taking
place in my organisation?
There are a number of key considerations that should help to
prevent this behaviour:
- develop and implement a formal policy: this can be kept simple, but you should consider involving staff when writing it
- set a good example: the behaviour of employers and senior managers is as important as any formal policy
- maintain fair procedures for dealing promptly with complaints from employees
- set standards of behaviour with an organisational statement about the standards of behaviour expected; this could be included in the staff handbook.
Bullying and harassment can happen:
- face-to-face
- by letter
- by email
- by phone
The law
Bullying itself isn’t against the law, but harassment is.
This is when the unwanted behaviour is related to one of the following:
- age
- sex
- disability
- gender (including gender reassignment)
- marriage and civil partnership
- pregnancy and maternity
- race
- religion or belief
- sexual orientation
Employers’
responsibilities
Employers are responsible for preventing bullying and harassment – they are
liable for any harassment suffered by their employees.
Having anti-bullying and harassment policies can help prevent problems. Humba-HR-Consultants have produced
a booklet for employers at large, including advice on setting up a policy as
well as how to recognise, deal with and prevent bullying and harassment.
Reporting all behaviours which are provocative makes a work environment easy to adapt to and normally increases productivity and efficiency because there's positive behaviour awareness. Therefore in each and every working environment has to be tailored to suit the people working in it and always minimise the negative behaviour for the safety of all employees.
Bullying cannot be defended on any reasonable grounds: it’s expensive; it creates turnover of the best and brightest; it impairs productivity; it damages employee health; it reinforces a workplace culture of destruction; it tarnishes an employer’s good reputation; and it lowers everyone’s quality of life and well being.
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ReplyDeleteIn my experience, WorkSafeBC provides little comfort when investigating Workplace Harassment claims. One of the investigator stated that, "If we can't control bullying in our workplace how do you think we can do anything about your wife's?" Needless to say I asked him to be removed from the case.
ReplyDeleteInteresting pointers there although I must emphasize that bullying and harassment shutters one's ability to work hard and or concentrate on their daily job. I really think bullying should be a punishable offence(law wise), because it disables one's progress and efficiency.
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