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Bullying includes:
Offensive, intimidating, malicious, or insulting behaviour;
abuse of authority which violates the dignity of an individual or a group of people;
creating a hostile environment against an individual;
the undermining, humiliation or injury of an individual.
The bullying does not need to relate to a protected characteristic (discussed below) but unless it does, or is of a sexual nature, it is not prohibited by the Equality Act 2010 (or, in Northern Ireland, under various pieces of equality legislation addressing a protected characteristic).
What is harassment?
Harassment is defined as unwanted conduct that has the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of people in the workplace or of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.
To be protected under the Equality Act (or in Northern Ireland under various pieces of equality legislation addressing a protected characteristic), it must be related to gender reassignment, disability, age, sex (or be of a sexual nature), sexual orientation, race, religion or belief (and in Northern Ireland political opinion) or nationality. It may be an isolated incident or come up again and again.
Harassment includes bullying if it relates to one of the protected characteristics listed above.
A key factor in determining whether harassment has occurred is whether the actions or comments are viewed as demeaning and unacceptable to the recipient.
A few examples of bullying/harassment could include:
making offensive or intimidating comments;
withholding information so the job cannot be done properly;
unreasonable or impossible deadlines or workloads;
overbearing supervision or unjust criticism;
blocking opportunities or making threats about job security.
What can you do about bullying and harassment?
There are a few simple steps you can take if you are affected by bullying at work:
keep a written record or diary of all bullying incidents, including past incidents – no matter how small they appear;
speak to the bully or harasser (if you can): they may not have realised how distressing their actions are to you – if you are unable to do this, ask your safety rep, steward or a colleague to raise it on your behalf;
speak to your employer – your safety rep, steward, colleague or UNISON rep may be able to advise you on the best way of doing so and accompany you to any meetings with your employer;
speak to your UNISON rep;
contact an occupational health service or employee assistance programme;
become a UNISON safety rep to help reduce bullying and harassment in your workplace.
What can UNISON do about bullying and harassment?
UNISON works at many levels to tackle bullying and harassment in the workplace:
nationally – UNISON campaigns against bullying and harassment;
locally – UNISON safety reps and stewards are trained to help you find a solution to bullying and harassment issues;
your UNISON rep may investigate whether your case is a one-off incident, or part of a wider problem;
your UNISON rep may also survey members and workers and may negotiate with your employer to create or revise policies.
Next steps for UNISON reps
Ask your employer to carry out a risk assessment – bullying and harassment are both risks to the physical and psychological wellbeing of workers, so a risk assessment can be an appropriate way to document the potential threat posed by bullying at work.
Negotiate a policy on bullying – a joint policy on bullying should form the basis of attempts to manage bullying at work, and send a clear signal that bullying is not acceptable.
The policy should outline what constitutes bullying behaviour, as well as procedures for dealing with complaints.
Join the campaign – UNISON is actively campaigning against bullying and harassment at work.
When most of us hear the term ‘bullying’ we seem to reflect back on childhood memories of the schoolyard bully tormenting others for self-amusement, much to the distain of others around them. Unfortunately this seems not to be the only time such behaviour occurs. Workplace bullying and harassment can be defined as ‘Offending, socially excluding someone or negatively affecting someone’s work tasks. It can occur repeatedly and regularly over a period of time where the confronted ends up in an inferior position and becomes the target of systematic negative social acts’ (Einarsen et al, 2007). This essay will explain the significance of bullying and harassment in the workplace by exploring,…show more content…
Workplace bullies have been described as ‘conquerors only interested in power and control, who enjoy belittling sub-ordinates’ (Dawn et al, 2007). Statistics from an Australian cross- national survey revealed that 70 percent of bullying behaviour was inflicted by a supervisor or manager toward sub-ordinates (Query & Hanley, 2010). Some of the affects bullying and harassment has on workers is low self esteem, anxiety depression, psychosomatic problems (hostility, hyper sensibility, loss of memory and feelings of victimisation), aggression, fear and mistrust, cognitive effects (inability to concentrate or think clearly, reduced problem solving capacity), isolation, loneliness, deterioration of friendships, chronic fatigue and sleep problems (Poilpot-Rocaboy,2006).
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