Bullying; stop it now!
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Bullying includes abuse, physical or verbal violence, humiliation and undermining someone's confidence. You are probably being bullied if, for example, you are:
- constantly picked on.
- humiliated in front of colleagues.
- regularly unfairly treated.
- physically or verbally abused.
- blamed for problems caused by others.
- always given too much to do, so that you regularly fail in your work.
- regularly threatened with the sack.
- unfairly passed over for promotion or denied training opportunities.
Bullying can be face-to-face, in writing, over the phone or by fax or email.
Management bullying.
Code of conduct for NHS managers:
"As an NHS manager, I will observe the following principles:
make the care and safety of patients my first concern and act to
protect them from risk .... I will be honest and act with integrity
.... I will seek to ensure that NHS Staff are valued as colleagues;
given all reasonable protection from harassment and bullying;
provided with a safe working environment"
Download document: Code of conduct for NHS managers
What is workplace bullying?
Workplace bullying can be defined as persistent unacceptable
‘offensive, intimidating, malicious, insulting or humiliating
behaviour, abuse of power or authority which attempts to
undermine an individual or group of employees and which may
cause them to suffer stress’.
Harassment can be defined as conduct which is unwanted and
offensive and affects the dignity of an individual or group of
individuals. Whether the harassment is intentional or not is
irrelevant; the key point is that it is offensive.
Examples of bullying behaviour can include:
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withholding information which can affect the worker’sperformance.
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ignoring views and opinions.
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setting unreasonable/impossible deadlines.
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setting unmanageable workloads.
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humiliating staff in front of others.
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being shouted at or being the target of spontaneous rage..
These examples highlight the various types of bullying behaviour that people experience at work:
Public verbal abuse
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“I was blamed for my own mistakes in front of the entire office. I was shouted at and told to do the work that should have been done and not to do it again. Everyone was listening as the manager shouted at me.”
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“Rubbishing your work, public humiliation through doing a job not to the required standard. Setting unrealistic targets, being made to feel ‘unprofessional’.”
Contract manipulation
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“I was threatened with job loss because I wanted the Bank Holiday off with my family.”
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“I was harassed at home by phone by my ward manager when I was off sick. I was threatened about my job due to how much sick leave I’d had in the past six months. The sick leave was due to having to wait three weeks for a hospital admission. I needed time off with a viral infection. My manager told lies to other members of staff about why I was off work.”
Undermining actions
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"The manager totally undermined me in front of clients, giving them the impression I was not capable of helping them and advising them to come another day.”
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“Taking my clock card out of the rack and discussing my hours with general office staff. Not passing on messages. Delaying paperwork so deadlines were missed.”
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“One slight error, the manager blows up as if you had done the whole page wrong. Will not listen to what you have to say. Picks on different people at different times.”
You're not alone; we can help.
If you feel that you have been or are being
subjected to workplace bullying; contact your department/area
representative or contact your branch directly.