Did you know that 41 percent of workers in
a survey recently stated that they have been bullied in their workplace.
That should tell you that if you feel bullied
you are one of almost half the
workforce in that situation. We work with individuals and businesses to help
identify and address issues like bullying. What does bullying mean?
Workers report being excluded from decisions, discussions and meetings, colleagues
colluding or ganging up against them, being
set unrealistic targets or an excessive workload and being humiliated in front
of others for example. In nearly every instance of this sort of conduct people also
report having suffered health-wise often this is manifested in absence through
stress or depression - employers will not believe this is happening in their
workplaces, they have anti-bullying policies and feel that they have done
enough believing that everybody complies. Why don't employees report bullying?
As a victim of bullying you may not have reported such behavior and you're not
alone, many believe that there would be retribution for exposing bad behaviour.
Employees worry that their careers will suffer and they might be given
unpleasant or dead-end tasks. Does raising a concern mean that you are not
resilient enough for the workplace? If you can't stand the heat get out of the
kitchen - I shall say what you can do later. So what should employers be doing?
Doing nothing is not an option and employers that do not address
bullying head-on face becoming known as a bad employer, that will not attract or
retain key workers. Ignoring bullying does not make it go away rather they
become part of the ethos of the company and embedded. There is a duty of care for
employers to look after the health and safety of their employees, whether in terms of machines and
physical dangers, or from psychological dangers arising out of the conduct of employees.
An employer can be regarded as liable for the conduct of
its workers even if it is blameless and has the correct policies and procedures in
place, this is known as vicarious liability, the courts assign responsibility to the employer even when
it can show that bullies have acted outside of their contracted duties - on occasion
even when they do the opposite of what they were supposed to do. In a recent
case of supermarket was held to be liable for the actions of its employee who
carried out a sustained assault on a customer.
What can you do if you are being bullied? If you don't feel able to
tell the person affecting you to stop the offending conduct you should speak to a manager.
Many employers have anti-bullying and speaking out policies, helplines
and grievance procedures. You should use
these mechanisms to report bullies and stop the conduct.
There are various helplines and organisations outside the workplace and of
course you can speak to an employment lawyer who deals with this sort of issue.
What is the connection between bullying and discrimination claims? There are
discrimination claims for a sort of bullying known as harassment, the law says that a person may bring a
claim when an employee's workplace is intimidating, hostile,
degrading, humiliating or offensive - the
conduct needs to be unwanted and violates the dignity of the employee.
Where bullying is perpetrated on grounds other than race,
sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, or religion and belief for example, or the
other protected characteristics, for example in relation to weight or height
or colour of hair it is unlikely to be a discrimination claim unless it meets other
criteria. Where personal injury is caused it is more likely to be a personal
injury claim which is pursued in a county court.
How does the law help? Where an employee complains about bullying and harassment on the grounds
of one of the protected characteristics such as race, sex, disability, age and so on, the employee
attracts protection and indeed anybody complaining on behalf of an employee who
has been bullied or harassed may also attract protection. Any detrimental treatment
towards these individuals expose the employer to a claim from those
individuals. So if a white colleague is subjected to bad treatment because he
has complained to the employer about his black colleague being racially harassed,
the white colleague could also have a claim for victimisation on the grounds of race.
An employee complaining about bullying which is not on grounds of a protected
characteristic may also be given protection from detrimental treatment
because they have in effect blown the whistle on treatment that could damage
their health and safety. It is important to realise that you are not alone and
that you can do something about bullying and harassment. Discrimination is unlawful
and there are significant claims that can be brought, it is important to choose
your lawyer carefully preferably one who has experience in discrimination claims
and who can assist you with the right tactics from the outset. What should an
employer do when faced with these issues? If you're an employer who is facing a
complaint of bullying or discrimination you should seek legal advice at the
earliest opportunity, an early resolution of such complaints is vital and
could save you a great deal of time and expense. Whether you are an employer or an
employee the workplace does not have to be a place of conflict, these sorts of
issues are resolved fairly easily as long as all the parties cooperate and work for resolution.