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What is bullying in the workplace? What does the law say?
The UK government defines it as “behaviour There is no legal definition of bullying,
that makes someone feel intimidated or and human resources professional body
offended”. the Chartered Institute of Personnel and
Development (CIPD) says there is no single
Dispute resolution service Acas says piece of legislation that covers it.
that bullying behaviour can be “malicious
or insulting”, or an abuse of power that But there are legal protections. Employers
“undermines, humiliates, or causes physical or have a duty of care to keep you safe at work,
emotional harm to someone”. and you may be able to claim for breach of
employment contract if this doesn’t happen.
It can be regular or a one-off, happen in
person or online, it can be at work or at a Employment lawyer Jessica Rowson at
work-related event such as a party, and it may Oakwood Solicitors, who specialises in stress
not be obvious. at work, says courts look at intention and the
effect of behaviour on an individual.
Bullying can range from being very direct,
such as verbal or physical abuse, to being The lack of a legal definition of bullying can
subtle, such as excluding people and isolating cause confusion for both employees and
them. employers, Ms Rowson adds.
Bullying could include: Who can be bullied?
a colleague spreading rumours, or putting While the majority of bullying is abuse of
you down in meetings power by bosses, bullying can also cut both
ways.
your boss giving you more work than
everyone else People lower down in the pecking order
can bully upwards by showing continued
someone putting humiliating comments on disrespect, refusing to complete tasks,
social media spreading rumours, or doing things to try to
make it look as though you are bad at your
a manager offering career development
opportunities or training to others that you job.
are denied Even business owners can be bullied,
although so-called “upward bullying” is
a boss not giving you chances to show your
skills or ignoring you relatively rare.
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