subscribe: Posts | Comments

New guide to fighting bullying at work

0 comments

UNISON, guide, harassment, bullying, defnitions, surveys, support, women at workSexual haraament and bullying still a big workplace problem.

According to figures published by the TUC, 52 per cent of all women and nearly two thirds of women aged between 18 and 24 have experienced sexual harassment at work.

We have already reported on the TUC study, ‘Still just a bit of banter?‘, carried out with the Everyday Sexism Project; it also found that nearly one in three women have been the subject of unwelcome jokes of a sexual nature at work; more than one in four women have been the subject of comments of a sexual nature about their body or clothes at work; nearly a quarter of women have experienced unwanted touching; a fifth of women have experienced unwanted verbal sexual advances at work; and around one in eight women have experienced unwanted sexual touching or attempts to kiss them at work.

And sadly, survey after survey continue to show how big a problem it remains.

And then there is bullying.

The TUC’s 11th biennial survey of safety representatives, published in 2016, identified harassment and bullying as a particular problem in the public sector, where half of safety reps identify it as one of their top five hazards.

‘Insight into ill treatment in the British workplace: patterns, causes and solutions’, a 2011 report summarising a national study funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and supported by Acas and the Equality and Human Rights Commission, found that just under half the British workforce experienced unreasonable treatment at work over a two-year period.

It also found that workers in the public sector were particularly at risk of both incivility and disrespect as well as violence and injury. And within the public sector, employees in health and social care, public administration and defence, and education were especially affected.

The report also identified that employees with disabilities or long-term health problems, younger employees and lesbian, gay and bisexual employees were all more likely to experience ill-treatment at work.

Trade union members were more likely to experience violence and injury.

An NHS staff survey in 2015 of doctors, nurses, healthcare assistants, ambulance workers and non-clinical employees found that, across all trust types, one in eight staff reported that they had experienced harassment or bullying from their manager one or more times.

Similar findings for whether staff felt that they had experienced harassment or bullying by other colleagues were reported with 18 per cent of all staff saying this had happened to them on one or more occasions.

UNISON’s Local Government Membership Survey 2015 found that incidences of abuse at work had increased since 2008, with 60 per cent of respondents having been subjected to at least one form of abuse, either bullying/harassment, or verbal or physical threats as well as actual violence, with verbal abuse from service users being the most common.

And a UNISON survey of 1,000 police staff, published in February 2016, found that more than 67 per cent of female police staff said that bullying was a problem at work – and 72 per cent were not confident that their employer would deal fairly with complaints.

The research revealed that women who work as police staff – 999 call handlers, police community support officers, crime scene investigators, fingerprint experts and detention officers – were 28 per cent more likely to be bullied than their male counterparts.

Female respondents to the survey cited humiliation and being belittled or embarrassed as the main form of bullying (43 per cent), followed by excessive criticism (37 per cent), being excluded or victimised, and excessive work monitoring (29 per cent).

UNISON’s 2016 equality survey of over 4,500 members working in the different UNISON service groups identified that one in four members had experienced or had witnessed unfair discrimination in their workplace.

However 40 per cent of these members did not report the discrimination because of a fear of being victimised or bullied, and well over a third thought the issue would not be taken seriously.

And a 2016 survey conducted by the Scottish young members’ committee found that three quarters of young members experience bullying and harassment at work – with 7 per cent of those experiencing violence.

That survey also showed that over 50 per cent of these cases were not reported – the most common reason being that members did not realise that what they had experienced was classified as bullying or harassment.

An evidence review commissioned by the Government Equalities Office, published by the National Institute of Economic and Social Research in July 2016, showed discrimination in recruitment and promotion, with many trans people working below the level of their education and qualifications.

Many trans people – up to 50 per cent of respondents – experienced harassment and bullying at work.

They reported extremely poor service from HR departments, lack of understanding of trans issues by managers and little support when they faced discrimination and harassment. The consequences of this included restricted job choice, reduced progression and an inability to be out at work.

Harassment and bullying at work have a devastating effect on an individual, often leading to ill-health and work-related stress and affecting both their work performance and personal life.

Such behaviour is bad for the workforce and bad for the organisation, and needs to be challenged and eliminated.

On the upside, the UNISON 2016 equality survey found that where discrimination was reported UNISON representation played a key role in getting the issue resolved.

And UNISON has now produced a guide which can be used by UNISON branches and stewards and others to negotiate policies which prevent, tackle and deal with incidences of harassment and bullying in the workplace.

To download it, click here.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *