Too often, bullying is dismissed as ‘banter’, or teasing. It’s important to know that if you or someone you know is feeling humiliated, uncomfortable, and are dreading seeing a certain person or group, then this is a form of bullying.

A note to employers

Wellbeing in the workplace is your responsibility, and bullying needs to be stamped out before it causes larger issues. Not only is bullying unpleasant, it also has an unwanted effect on your workforce and their productivity. Unhappy workers are more likely to be ineffective, have time off, or leave the company.

Scroll down for tips on becoming a bullying and harassment-free zone ↓

What's classed as Bullying?

Bullying is behaviour that is offensive, intimidating, mean or insulting and it happens persistently over time. For example:

Being called names, being criticised or put down
Deliberately being ignored or excluded
Spreading rumours
Setting you up to fail
Shouting, intimidation and threatening behaviour
Using a position of power to make you feel threatened or undermined
Making threats about job security

Bullying - against the law?

Bullying itself is not against the law. However, it is against the law to discriminate against somebody because of protected characteristics that were drawn out in the 2010 Equality act.

There are 9 protected characteristics. They are:

Age ● Gender ● Disability ● Gender Reassignment ● Marriage & Civil Partnership ● Pregnancy & Maternity ● Race ● Religion or Belief ● Sexual Orientation

know the difference

People will have different ideas on a range of issues, including what is acceptable behaviour and what isn’t. This can lead to situations where people feel like they are being bullied, or not realising that their actions may be making someone else feel bullied. You may not mean to make someone feel bad, but this doesn’t mean they don’t.

The most important thing to remember is to value if someone is hurt, and don’t dismiss it. If they feel like they are being bullied, their experience is valid.

Teasing/Joking

When people are teasing or making jokes about each other and all parties seem to be giving as good as they get, this could be considered banter between people who know each other.

If the joking and teasing is only one-sided and is repeated, then this could be considered bullying.

Fighting/Aggression

There may be heated occasions in a workplace where different personalities clash and someone becomes aggressive. If this is a one-off, it wouldn’t be considered bullying. After all, we don’t always know what is going on in peoples’ home lives and they might be struggling themselves.

If the aggressive behaviour is more than a one-off, though, this could be considered bullying.

Isolated Incidents

Excluding somebody from an activity, aggressive behaviour, arguments or telling a joke involving a colleague can all be upsetting if you’re on the receiving end.

If this behaviour happens often or is carried out to gain power or control, it is bullying behaviour and must stop.

Resources: Banter vs Bullying

To better understand the differences between banter and bullying, you can take our Banter vs Bullying course modules through our Wellbeing Academy. This is a great resource for both employers and employees.

if you're being bullied - follow these steps

If you are a victim of bullying, you need to address the problem. Follow the steps below to get the problem to stop.

Address the bully

Your first move is to see if you can sort out the problem informally. Try telling the bully how you feel- they may not realise how you have been affected. If this feels out of the question or doesn’t work, move to the next step.

Talk to Someone

Try talking to your manager, human resources department, or trade union representative. Receiving a warning or punishment from an authority figure might just stop the bully in their tracks.

Formal Complaint

Next, you can make a formal complaint using your employer’s grievance procedure – all employers should have one.

Legal Action

It can feel daunting to get legal, but if you are still being harassed after following these steps, you are well within your rights to take your complaint to an employment tribunal. For more information, visit our legal advice page.

your rights in the workplace

UK (excl. NI) – The ACAS (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) offers a guide on being treated unfairly at work, click here for more information. You can also use their helpline, available Monday to Friday, 8am ’til 6pm:

Telephone: 0300 123 1100
Textphone: 18001 0300 123 1100

Northern Ireland – The Labour Relations Agency offers a guide on being treated unfairly at work, click here for more information. You can also use their Workplace Information Service:

Telephone: 03300 555 300

Republic of Ireland – The Workplace Relations Commission offers a guide on being treated unfairly at work, click here for more information. You can also visit their contact page to choose the telephone number best suiting your query.

Employers - Make the workplace a bullying-free zone

Create a way for your employees to report instances of bullying
Remain confidential when dealing with incidents
Take every report of bullying seriously and deal with it immediately. Do not brush it under the carpet as ‘banter’ or put the blame on the victim. If they have come to you for help, it must be truly bothering them. By telling them to ‘crack on’ or ‘get on with it’ – you are aligning yourself with the bullying, and implying that the behaviour isn’t that bad. This is unprofessional and unsupportive.
Provide guidelines about what is and isn’t acceptable in terms of behaviour and language in your organisation, especially where protected characteristics are concerned. This way, nobody can say they weren’t aware of the rules and the consequences of overstepping them.
Create open and honest communication with your teams and breed a culture of respect
Create a Bullying and Harassment Policy if you don’t already have one – you can use this to assess each incident as it comes in and follow a step-by-step process to manage the behaviour
Remember that your company’s reputation may be at risk if you are known as an employer who doesn’t take bullying seriously. You may also be held accountable by vicarious liability if cases of bullying or harassment are taken further outside of your workplace.