Bullying at work – what can you do?

Bullying is unwanted, offensive and frightening behaviour and can come from co-workers, supervisors or customers.

 

Bullying frequently consists of a series of acts or incidents which, in isolation, appear trivial but, put together, can be devastating. A bully can deny that bullying is occurring when single incidents are involved but cannot do so when there is a series of incidents.

 

Bullying can involve:

  • yelling or abusive language
  • laughs or insults because of your lack of experience, appearance, race, religion or sexual preference
  • physical abuse – people pushing, poking, hitting or threatening to hurt you.

 

If you feel bullied:

  • tell the person to stop
  • keep a diary of events – this will support your allegations of bullying by providing you with clear recall of all the details
  • tell your employer, your human resources manager or occupational health and safety representative.

 

Violent bullying is against the law. 

 

For anyone under 18 years of age it may also be considered child abuse. If you feel this is happening to you, you can get advice on your particular situation from the NSW Commission for Children and Young People on (02) 9286 7276.

 

 

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