A survey by the Ban Bullying at Work campaign questioned 512
senior managers across the UK in conjunction with the Chartered
Management Institute ahead of the fifth national Ban Bullying at
Work day which takes place on 7th November.
The other main factors, given by managers themselves, which
contribute to bullying at work included unrealistic targets (cited
by 27%); authoritarian management styles (56%); personality (57%);
and failure to address incidents (37%).
The survey also asked managers what they believed was the most
prolific type of bullying used. Misuse of power was cited by 71% of
managers while 63% cited overbearing supervision and 55% cited
exclusion.
The report also looked at the reasons why organisations should
tackle bullying at work. Improving low morale was the most cited
answer, followed by improving productivity and reducing
absenteeism.
Lyn Witheridge, chief executive of the Ban Bullying at Work
Campaign, said: "We are challenging businesses to speak out against
bullying to create workplaces where employees can see clearly that
bullying behaviours will not be tolerated.”
Catherine Barker, an employment lawyer at Pinsent Masons, the law
firm behind OUT-LAW.COM, said that although there is no specific
legislation making bullying at work illegal, every employer owes
its staff a duty of care to make sure that its workplace is
somewhere where they are not subjected to harassment.
She said: "There is also anti-discrimination legislation which
will catch many instances of bullying behaviors. If, for example, a
person is bullied for reasons connected to their sex, race,
disability, sexual orientation, age, religion or belief, they may
be able to bring a discrimination complaint to an Employment
Tribunal.
"Bullying can, however, take many other forms and may be as a
result of a personality clash or frustration by management
regarding an individual's performance. In this situation any
employee is entitled to raise a grievance and if management fails
to deal with the grievance properly, this could underline trust and
confidence in the employment relationship.
"When this trust and confidence is severely undermined, an
employee may feel they have no option but to resign and in this
situation they may have a valid constructive dismissal complaint in
an Employment Tribunal."
Barker added: "The best thing businesses can do is to ensure
that the workplace culture is one of respect and equality so that
bullying and harassment of any description is simply not tolerated.
This can be achieved by having proper anti-bullying policies in
place, training managers on these policies, and dealing with any
grievances properly as soon as they arise.
"But, if poor performance – by employees or management – is
genuinely the issue, then this should also be properly managed,
rather than allowing the problem to fester."
Disclaimer: We hope you find OUT-LAW’s content useful. It’s prepared by the lawyers at Pinsent Masons. Please remember, though, that it’s intended as general information only. It’s not legal advice. If that’s what you’re seeking, please
contact us. See also: our
full disclaimer
