BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE - Admin Made Easy

BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE – ARE YOU DOING ENOUGH?

We spend a great deal of our time at work and everyone deserves to feel comfortable and at ease in the workplace.

Sadly, for many employees out there this is not the case.

ACAS in just one year reported around 20,000 calls about bullying and harassment at work, with many people feeling too afraid to speak up about being treated badly by their managers or co-workers.

As employers, we often fail to see the real effects that a bully can have on our employees.

We have all at some point heard these phrases before:

Its just a “clash of personalities” – if an employee is being systematically belittled, excluded, intimidated they are not clashing with someone, they are being bullied.

It’s character-building – Negative remarks and actions towards an employee will not build any sort of character, instead, it can be debilitating and have a negative impact on the employee’s emotional health.

It’s a leadership style – Overly aggressive or dominant managers may try to pass off bullying as their “style” of management, but if an employee is feeling threatened it is bullying.

There are many instances of bullying in the workplace, here are just a few:

Being persistently picked on in front of others or in private
Shouting, aggressive behaviours or threats
Being constantly criticised
Having duties and responsibility taken away without good reason
Misuse of power or position to make someone feel uncomfortable or victimised
Making threats about job security without any basis or substance
Blocking promotion or progress within the workplace
Leaving someone out on purpose, excluding from social events
Embarrassing someone in public
Trying to entice others to avoid having contact with the victim
Spreading rumours about someone and encouraging others to join in

Bullying and harassment in the workplace if left to fester will almost always lead to absenteeism and poor work performance. In extreme cases it has led to depression, loss of self-esteem and suicide.

As an employer is this really what you want for your employees?

THE STATS

A survey carried out in 2015 found that more than a third (37%) have been victim to bullying in the workplace.

Women (34%) came out as more likely to be bullied than men (23%).

Nearly three quarters (72%) of cases of bullying is carried out by a Manager and more than one in three (36%) of people who report being bullied at work leave their job because of it.

More than a quarter (28%) report it as having a detrimental effect on them physically, and around one in five (22%) take time off as a result of being bullied.

More worryingly nearly half (46%) of people say that it has had an adverse effect on their performance at work and say it is having a negative impact on their mental health.

Bullying is a known cause of stress and anxiety and can have long-term effects on the victims’ physical and mental health.

BULLYING AND HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE – THE LAW

As employers, we have a responsibility for our employees. Not only is it the right thing to do but we have a legal duty under the Health and Safety at Work Act to ensure the health, safety and welfare of employees and that includes protection from bullying and harassment.

Bullying and Harassment are defined as “behaviour that makes someone feel intimidated or offended”

According to the government bullying or harassing behaviour can include:

Spreading malicious rumours
Picking on someone
Unfair treatment
Regularly undermining a competent worker
Denying someone training or promotion opportunities

Under the Equality Act 2010, this behaviour is categorised as harassment if it relates to someones:

Age
Sex
Disability
Gender reassignment
Marriage and civil partnership
Pregnancy and maternity
Race
Religion or belief
Sexual orientation

It is essential that we take reasonable and responsible steps to deal with bullying in the workplace.

Failing to deal responsibly with bullying in the workplace could result in the outcomes below:

Employees can claim that workplace bullying had made their position untenable leaving them no choice but to resign and claim unfair dismissal (constructive dismissal)
If the bullying relates to a person’s race, sex or religion as mentioned above there is a possibility of a discrimination claim which can result in unlimited compensation for the victim (discrimination claims)
Allowing bullying to exist and go unresolved can also be said to be creating an unsafe working environment which may lead to liability for the employer under the health and safety law (health and safety at work)

WHAT SHOULD WE DO ABOUT IT?

Have a policy on dealing with bullying and harassment in the workplace.

You must be able to show that as an employer you have taken all reasonable steps to deal with any act or acts of bullying and harassment.

The policy doesn’t have to be over the top, especially for smaller businesses.

A good place to start is to have a clear and concise policy on the subject of bullying and harassment in the workplace, making it easily accessible to staff.

A good policy should include the following:

A statement of commitment from senior management
A clear statement that bullying and harassment is unlawful, will not be tolerated
Examples of unacceptable behaviour
An acknowledge that bullying and harassment are problems for the organisation
A statement that bullying and harassment may be treated as disciplinary offences
The steps the organisation takes to prevent bullying and harassment
Responsibilities of supervisors and managers
Confidentiality for any complaint
Investigation procedures, including timescales for action
Reference to disciplinary procedures, including timescales for action counselling and support
Training for managers
Protection from victimisation
How the policy is to be implemented, reviewed and monitored

Source: ACAS

Deal with bullying and harassment effectively

Train all staff on the subject. Knowing what to do when bullying is raised will come from referring to the policy you have in place.

Hold regular team meetings to make sure all staff and managers know what the policy is and how it is enforced.

Training line managers on all aspects of bullying is also a good idea and should challenge managers about their attitude to bullying and how it should be managed. Give them real-life examples to discuss and debate upon.

Annual training on this subject if possible is also worthwhile, this creates a transparent culture and allows for a sensitive topic to be openly discussed rather than avoided.

Adopt a zero-tolerance culture to bullying and harassment

Disciplining staff including management for serious instances of proven bullying sends a powerful message to your workforce. You are saying to them you care, there are no exceptions to the rule, and you take it seriously by imposing the appropriate sanction depending on the circumstances.

Appoint an anti-bullying champion

This should be someone from your management team whose role will be to emphasise to all managers the importance of being a positive role model and take bullying seriously within the workplace.

The two most important characteristics of the anti-bullying champion is having a knowledge of the subject and a passion for eradicating bullying in the workplace. They should be known as the “go-to” person if an incident has taken place.

The appointed champion should provide a yearly report in a confidential manner about any instances of bullying and harassment and what those outcomes were.

THE BENEFITS OF A BULLY FREE WORKPLACE

Staff Retention – you will spend less time and money on advertising, recruiting and training staff on replacing those who have left due to workplace bullying and harassment
Reduction in absenteeism – it is currently costing the UK economy £13 billion in sickness absence, A lower rate of absenteeism saves on staff replacement costs, overtime pay and benefits claims
Increased morale – Staff who feel respected feel empowered and valued and the knock-on effect of that is staff work harder and more effectively
Lower risk of legal action – the average cost of an employer going to tribunal is £16,000, therefore it makes sense ensure your employee’s welfare is well taken care of.