What constitutes bullying at work splits public opinion in the UK, with research finding that 57% of people believe shouting in the workplace does not count as bullying.
A survey commissioned by law firm Wright Hassall also found that a third (35%) of people do not think jokes about a person could be considered bullying. A third (32%) do not believe that exclusion from group meetings is bullying behaviour, while 63% felt that abrupt emails would not be classed as bullying.
The survey of 1,026 UK employees also found that half of people have either been bullied at work or witnessed it (48% of men and 59% of women).
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Twelve per cent of people did not think intimidation was bullying. There is no legal definition of bullying, but a definition from Acas includes “unwanted behaviour from a person or group that is either offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting”.
One-fifth (21%) of people did not think that spreading rumours about a person was bullying.
Moreover, 6% of people did not believe that any of the behaviours described above would be considered bullying.
Is shouting bullying?
Tina Chander, head of employment law at Wright Hassall, says: “Workplaces that tolerate shouting from senior colleagues may write it off as people simply ‘being passionate’, but this behaviour can cause serious problems, especially if an employee decides to make a formal complaint and take the employer to a tribunal; the costs and reputation damage associated with this can be crippling.
“In today’s world, where there is so much more awareness about what behaviour is acceptable or not, it’s upsetting to see that 50% of people have witnessed someone being bullied.
“Given that more women have experienced bullying compared to men, and fewer women know what to do, it’s time for workplaces to focus bullying reporting activity on them and make sure that everybody knows what support is available to them.”
She added that workplaces should have a bullying and harassment policy in place, but “there’s no point in having a policy if no one is aware of it”.
When asked who was responsible for fixing the problem, the survey found that 13% of people were not sure. Younger age groups (18-24 and 25-34) put more emphasis on HR sorting out bullying (34.90% and 37.10%, respectively) than the older respondents, for whom 26.7% think HR should address bullying behaviours.
One quarter (26.2%) of people surveyed said they would not know what to do if they were being bullied at work.
Tina Chander added: “It’s everyone’s responsibility to fix the problem of workplace bullying. HR plays a vital role, as do the leaders, but it’s up to colleagues to care for one another and speak up when behaviour is wrong. No one should suffer in silence.”
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