
What can UNISON do about bullying and harassment? become a UNISON safety rep to help reduce bullying and harassment in your workplace.contact an occupational health service or employee assistance programme.speak to your employer – your safety rep, steward, colleague or UNISON rep may be able to advise you on the best way of doing so and accompany you to any meetings with your employer.
speak to the bully or harasser (if you can): they may not have realised how distressing their actions are to you – if you are unable to do this, ask your safety rep, steward or a colleague to raise it on your behalf. keep a written record or diary of all bullying incidents, including past incidents – no matter how small they appear. There are a few simple steps you can take if you are affected by bullying at work: What can you do about bullying and harassment? blocking opportunities or making threats about job security. overbearing supervision or unjust criticism. unreasonable or impossible deadlines or workloads. withholding information so the job cannot be done properly. making offensive or intimidating comments. Harassment includes bullying if it relates to one of the protected characteristics listed above.Ī key factor in determining whether harassment has occurred is whether the actions or comments are viewed as demeaning and unacceptable to the recipient.Ī few examples of bullying/harassment could include: It may be an isolated incident or come up again and again. To be protected under the Equality Act (or in Northern Ireland under various pieces of equality legislation addressing a protected characteristic), it must be related to gender reassignment, disability, age, sex (or be of a sexual nature), sexual orientation, race, religion or belief (and in Northern Ireland political opinion) or nationality. Harassment is defined as unwanted conduct that has the purpose or effect of violating the dignity of people in the workplace or of creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. The bullying does not need to relate to a protected characteristic (discussed below) but unless it does, or is of a sexual nature, it is not prohibited by the Equality Act 2010 (or, in Northern Ireland, under various pieces of equality legislation addressing a protected characteristic). the undermining, humiliation or injury of an individual. creating a hostile environment against an individual. abuse of authority which violates the dignity of an individual or a group of people. offensive, intimidating, malicious, or insulting behaviour.
If you or someone you know is affected by bullying and harassment, contact your UNISON representative for advice. Employees are protected by a combination of employers’ policies and legislation.
#Unison definition free
Your employer is responsible for creating and maintaining a safe workplace, free from bullying, intimidation and harassment. But both bullying and harassment are unacceptable, and the law makes it clear that all employees have the right to work in a safe environment. What can UNISON do about bullying and harassment?īullying and harassment in the workplace: introductionīullying and harassment are common problems affecting many members at work.What can you do about bullying and harassment?.
Bullying and harassment in the workplace: introduction.