BULLYING AT WORK CLAIMS

If you are being singled out for unfair treatment whilst at your place of employment by your boss, a manager or a colleague you do not have to suffer in silence. Bullying at work whilst common-place is unlawful and can include:

• shouting at employees or members of staff by any other employees who do not need to be in a more superior or managerial position.
• competent staff being constantly criticised for no good reason, having their normal duties or responsibilities removed in order to belittle them or being given trivial tasks that do not justify their position or experience
• deliberately and unfairly blocking promotion or movement from one job to another within the organisation
• persistently picking on an employee with trivial or unfair complaints in front of others or in private
• setting a person up to fail by overloading them with work or setting impossible deadlines
• regularly and deliberately ignoring or excluding individuals from work activities
• regularly making the same person the butt of jokes which may also come into the realms of sexual or racial discrimination or harassment
• consistently attacking a member of staff in terms of their professional or personal standing or bringing their personal life up to other employees where there is no justification or connection with their work

Bullying at work can cause the victim to suffer from ill health especially from stress related illnesses or other more serious psychological conditions. This type of behaviour can severely affect quality of life and can include anxiety, nausea, headaches, ulcers, skin rashes, sleeplessness, irritable bowel syndrome, tearfulness, loss of self-confidence, high blood pressure and other psychological disturnances.

If an employer fails to deal with this problem there are a number of potential outcomes which may affect the viability of his business including :-

• lost time because of staff absences due to stress and ill-health
• reduced incentive because of reduced workplace morale
• reduced work output and quality of service
• lost of trained, experienced staff
• financial penalties in the Employment Tribunal

The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 imposes a legal duty on employers to look after health, safety and welfare of their employees so far as is reasonably possible. If they do not do this they are breaching an individual’s contract of employment and action may be available both in the Employment Tribunal and in the Civil Courts. This type of behaviour may also be a breach of the sexual and racial harassment or discrimination legislation as well as a criminal offence justifying fines or imprisonment under the Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994.

If you are the victim of bullying at work, unless the situation is likely to lead to a physical confrontation with the risk of violence, you should make a direct approach and request that the unacceptable behaviour is stopped. If this does not work then you should approach the senior management who are under a legal duty to deal with this type of situation in the workplace. If senior management does not or cannot resolve the situation then you should take urgent legal advice from specialist lawyers taking with you any evidence including a diary of all the relevant events.

We are able to offer a wide range of employment law advice including :-

• unfair dismissal
• constructive dismissal
• redundancy
• racial discrimination
• sex discrimination
• racial harassment
• sexual harassment
• disability discrimination
• workplace bullying law
• compromise agreements
• age discrimination
• victimisation
• equal opportunities
• discrimination through pregnancy
• transfer of undertakings
• working time regulations
• commercial agents
• religious discrimination
• discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation

If you believe you have a claim, it is important to get advice from a solicitor specialising in the field of employment law. The laws governing these matters are complex and often overlap with a number of other areas, such as racial and sexual harassment and discrimination. Specialist knowledge is vital in pursuing a claim to the best conclusion. If you would like advice just telephone us for a free initial consultation.