A human issue, a work issue and a legal issue

BULLYING in the workplace has been described in various ways. The Health and Safety Authority’s definition is that it is ‘repeated inappropriate behaviour, direct or indirect, whether verbal, physical or otherwise, conducted by one or more persons against another or others, at the place of work and/or in the course of employment, which could reasonably be regarded as undermining the individual’s right to dignity at work.’

An isolated incident of the behaviour described in this definition may be an affront to dignity at work but as a once-off incident, it is not considered to be bullying.

Examples of behaviour that may constitute bullying are: Purposely undermining someone.

÷ Targeting someone for special negative treatment.

÷ Manipulation of an individual’s reputation.

÷ Social exclusion or isolation.

÷ Intimidation.

÷ Aggressive or obscene language.

÷ Jokes that are obviously offensive to one individual by spoken word or email. ÷ Intrusion by pestering, spying and stalking.

÷ Unreasonable assignments to duties which are obviously unfavourable to one individual.

÷ Repeated requests with impossible deadline or impossible tasks.

A HEALTH AND SAFETY ISSUE

BULLYING is a workplace issue and a human relations issue. It is a health and safety issue in so far as bullying has been identified as hazardous or dangerous because it can lead to both safety problems and health problems. It is also an industrial relations issue, is often a legal issue and a personal and public health issue.

Employers have a duty of care to all employees to ensure they are both mentally and physically safe at work and that their health is not adversely affected by work. This duty means employers must behave and react reasonably in relation to such matters.