Bullying in the Workplace

1. Bullying in the Workplace
by- Craig Kime
WHS Practitioner

2. It’s time we get on top of this
epidemic
 Work Place Health & Safety will not and
cannot work if you don’t have the
commitment of the highest level within your
workplace, saying that it will not work if you
do not have the commitment of every one
below the CEO.

3. What is Workplace Bullying?
 Intimidating remarks or glances
 Belittling comments in front of other staff
 Spreading gossip
 Failing to include you on an important email
or meeting

4. What is Workplace Bullying?
 Failing to give accurate or important information
to enable you to do your job properly
 Asking you to do useless jobs that aren’t part of
your job description
 Being excluded from social events at work
 Being treated with disrespect or rudeness

5. A victim of Bullying will feel
 Distress, anxiety, panic attacks or sleep
disturbance
 Physical illness, for example muscular tension,
headaches and digestive problems
 Deteriorating relationships with colleagues,
family and friends
 Depression, thoughts of suicide, anger, lose of
self esteem, lose of confidence, feeling
unwelcomed or unwanted and emotionally
charged.

6. Incident reporting
 It is important to say if you don’t report such
behaviour when you witness it happening
then you are failing your duty of care under
the Workplace Health and Safety act 2011 and
that makes you no different to the criminal
doing the bullying.

7. Bullying ‘costs employers millions’
 The SWA report found depression cost
Australian employers about $8bn a year
because of sickness absence, of which $693m
was due to job strain and bullying.
 Academics predicted stress-related illnesses,
such as depression and cardiovascular disease,
would be the leading causes of the global
disease burden by 2020.

8. What can I do if I’m being bullied?
Put your health before anything else

9. What can I do if I’m being bullied?
Continued
 However strong your personality, no one is immune
from mental health problems. Unexpressed anger and
fear can lead to depression in normal people. Take
evasive action before it gets that bad.
 Be aware of and monitor your stress levels. Try not to
allow your stress to get so serious that you become
bogged down with it, mindful that it is difficult to
recognise the extent of the problem yourself. Ask
family, friends and doctor to help as appropriate. If you
have an HR Department see you HR manager.
 Avoid having one-to-one meetings with the bully if you
have already complained about the bullying

10. Document everything
 Maintain notes of what you said and did, and
what others said and did
 Keep memos, emails and other documents
that are evidential of bullying
 Especially if you get bullied in private, consider
using a pocket voice recorder (Smartphone) to
obtain a verbal transcript.

11. Think and operate strategically
 Remember there are things in life you can
control, things you can influence, and things
you cannot do anything about. Ultimately, the
only thing you can control is you. Attempting
to persuade your employer to act responsibly
can be pointless and thus painful, but it is in
your interests to try not to fret about it if it
does not work. Focus your attention on what
you can do and are doing.

12. Think and operate strategically
continued
 There is a risk that any mistakes you make as a
result of being bullied, any sickness absence,
and any illness will be used by a bully to
discredit you. Most of what a bully throws at
you is designed to provoke a response that
can be used against you like making you swear
at them.

13. Think and operate strategically
continued
 Understand this and avoid responding directly
to such provocations
 Always act reasonably and in doing so, a
contrast will emerge between your behaviour
and the bully's
 Accept that this probably is not enough to
make it stop and in most cases it will not.

14. Think and operate strategically
continued
 Remember that there is more to you than
your job, and try not to take it too seriously
 Remember that once you decide to resist the
bullying, you may be in for the long haul, for
me it was a weight of my shoulders and worth
the fight.

15. Seek but do not depend on support
from other managers or trade union.
 If they give tell-tale signs that they do not
believe you or do not support you, do not
keep hoping that they will support you. I was
lucky my HR Department is second to no one
and was supportive and understanding.
 Seek independent support from neutral third
parties if you can

16. but do not depend on support from
other managers or trade union.
continued
 Get some help, but think about the interests and
personal agendas of the people you hope to trust
although this could be difficult if you have moved
to a new area but it is very important to find a
network of trust for me it was HR.
 Consider who is or might be facilitating and
condoning the bullying, and avoid confiding in
them, try and know who they are close to and
avoid them or just talk to them on issues not
relating to your personal issues.

17. Equip yourself
 Equip yourself with your employer's policies
and procedures, and make sure that YOU
follow them, and encourage others to do the
same
 Be 100% fair and reasonable, even when
standing your ground
 Always maintain your dignity and be polite,
even in the face of rudeness.

18. Equip yourself continued
 If you can, have a trusted companion with you as
a witness in any meeting to discuss bullying. If
you don't have a companion you can trust, make
sure you have an audio recorder, sometimes this
is easier said than done but it’s worth a try.
 Remember that everything you write, say and do
might one day be discussed in a court or tribunal,
so make sure your actions are beyond reproach
and justifiable. Don't do or say anything that you
would not wish to repeat in public.

19. But remember to put your health and
wellbeing before any other
consideration.