You might think that you were safe from bullying when you left high school, but in truth bullying can happen anywhere, and can extend beyond your average Chinese burn. Bullying involves hurtful acts or comments that damage your emotional or even physical wellbeing, and these don’t tend to be one-off occurrences that you can simply shrug off. Bullying tends to happen as a pattern, and in the workplace this not only affects your corporate wellness, but your sense of wellness when you’re not at work too.
Generally, companies and employers have a duty to protect you from any risks at work. Even if you think your boss won’t care, on a cynical level workplace bullying does ‘cost’ the organisation and so employers need to address the issue just as much as you do. There are always differences in opinion at work, which can be worked out between colleagues, but no company should tolerate behaviour that is unreasonable and offends or harms any person.
So what exactly does workplace bullying look like? The actions of bullying can be both obvious and subtle, and the list is certainly not extensive or a checklist. Examples include spreading malicious rumours, socially exclusion or isolation, intimidation, physical abuse or threats, undermining or deliberately impeding your work, removing your responsibilities for no reason, changing work guidelines constantly, setting impossible deadlines or giving incorrect information to set you up for failure, intrusion of privacy, and many more. If you think something isn’t quite right, ask yourself if reasonable people would consider the action unacceptable?
Bullying can affect you in a variety of ways. You could experience shock, anger, frustration, helplessness, vulnerability, panic or anxiety – especially about going to work, family tension and stress, inability to concentrate, low morale and productivity, and loss of confidence, as well as physical symptoms such as sleeplessness and lack of appetite, and psychosomatic symptoms such as stomach pains and headaches.
Therefore, if you feel you are being bullied you should firmly tell the person that his or her behaviour is not acceptable and ask them to stop, preferably with a supervisor or union member present. However, do not retaliate as this will complicate the situation and make you look like the perpetrator. Also, keep a record of incidents, including number, frequency, date, time, details, witnesses and the outcome of the event. Keep any evidence of bullying, such as emails or memos the person has sent you, and report harassment to your superior. If the situation continues, proceed to the next level of management.
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