Bullying at Work

By Dee Woodcock

There is no legal definition of bullying and no specific claim that you can bring in the employment tribunal for being bullied.

However, bullying is generally described as unwanted behaviour from a person or group that is either:

• Offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting; and/or
• An abuse or misuse of power that undermines, humiliates, or causes physical or emotional harm to a person.

Bullying can include a one-off incident and can happen in a variety of ways, face to face, over email or telephone, at work or through a work-related situation, such as a social, or WhatsApp group. It may not necessarily be obvious to others.

However, if you are being bullied because of a protected characteristic, such as age, sex, disability, gender reassignment, marriage/civil partnership, pregnancy, race etc or in retaliation for raising a whistleblowing complaint or health and safety issue, then you may be able to bring a claim for discrimination, harassment, or victimisation under the Equality Act 2010.

You should keep a diary of events, dates and what was said, as well as a list of potential witnesses. You should also check whether your employer has a specific Bullying and Harassment policy which may help guide you as to how to address the bullying. It may be useful and sensible to seek professional help from HR, your Trade Union, ACAS or a solicitor.

If you are unable to resolve your complaint informally, then it may be necessary to raise it formally through the employer’s Bullying and Harassment policy or alternatively, as a grievance. Again, if you are forced to raise your complaint formally it would be sensible to seek professional help.

If your complaint is not covered in one of the circumstances set out above, but your employer fails to address your complaint and general treatment, then you could have a claim for Unfair Constructive Dismissal. However, you should not resign until you have taken specific legal advice on the particular circumstances of your situation. This is because Unfair Constructive Dismissal cases can be unsuccessful unless certain factual steps have been completed.

Should you be experiencing problems at work, please do not hesitate to contact Dee Woodcock at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or on 01722 820934 for advice.

Dee Woodcock