What can I do if I am bullied at work?

What is bullying?
Bullying is legally defined as “repeated inappropriate behaviour, direct or indirect, whether verbal, physical or otherwise, conducted by one or more persons against another or others, at the place of work and/or in the course of employment, which could reasonably be regarded as undermining the individual’s right to dignity at work”. An isolated incident of the behaviour described in this definition may be an affront to dignity at work but, as a once off incident, is not considered to be bullying. It is important to distinguish inter-personal conflict from bullying.

Bullying can be verbal, physical or cyber bullying through social networking, emails and texts. Bullying may take many different forms such as:

• Social exclusion / isolation
• Damaging a person’s reputation
• Intimidation
• Aggressive / obscene language
• Repeated requests of impossible tasks / targets

What duties do employers owe?
Employers are obliged to manage health and safety issues, and more importantly to implement health and safety measures.  This is particularly pertinent when addressing the identification of bullying and stress in the workplace. An employer’s duty of care regarding the health and safety of employees includes the reasonable prevention of bullying and stress related injuries in the workplace.

Employers are obliged to carry out risk assessments in the preparation of a safety statement. The safety statement should not only relate to physical hazards but also to the risks associated with bullying. Procedures or preventative measures should follow this risk assessment in order to eliminate the risk or reduce the level of risk to an acceptable level.

Employers are obliged to put in place a policy or policies designed to prevent bullying occurring in the first place and not just deal with incidents as they arise. Failure to have such policies can lead to liability being imposed on the employer.  The sanctions taken against those employees found to have breached the anti-bullying policy should be clearly outlined in the policy. Formal grievance procedures should be put in place to ensure access to management. Each complaint must be comprehensively investigated.

I am being bullied, what can I do?
Informal Procedure
It is important that you follow your employer’s grievance procedure. An attempt should be made by you to address an allegation of bullying by informal means in the first instance. You should explain to the alleged perpetrator that their behaviour is unacceptable. If you find it difficult to approach the alleged perpetrator directly, you may seek the assistance of a line manager, colleague, human resource personnel or trade union representative. An appropriate course of action may be mediation or resolving the issue informally. If these particular courses of action are inappropriate or inconclusive a formal investigation may take place.

Formal Procedure
If the bullying persists, formal procedures can be invoked. You should make a complaint in writing to a member of management. The alleged perpetrator will be notified in writing that an allegation of bullying has been made against them. They will be given a copy of your written statement and afforded an opportunity to respond.

The complaint should be subject to an initial examination by a member of management who is impartial in order to determine an appropriate course of action. An investigation may be carried out by a member of management or a third party. The investigator should meet with you and the alleged perpetrator on an individual basis with a view to establishing the facts surrounding the allegations. Both you and the alleged perpetrator may be accompanied by a colleague or trade union representative. On completion of the investigation the investigator should submit a written report to management of the findings of the investigation. Both parties should be afforded an opportunity to comment on the findings of the investigation before any action is decided upon by management. Both you and the alleged perpetrator should be informed in writing of the findings of the investigation.

Outcome
If the complaint has been deemed well founded by management the matter may be progressed through the employer’s disciplinary procedure.

If either party is unhappy with the outcome of the investigation or feels the complaint has not been dealt with properly by the employer further action can be taken and the issue may be processed through the normal industrial relations mechanisms.

Equality Tribunal
If the bullying is in relation to civil status, family status, sexual orientation, religion, age, disability, race or membership of the Traveller community, you may be able to bring a case to the Equality Tribunal and a complaint be made under the Equality Acts.

Health and Safety Authority
If the workplace does not have an adequate bullying policy a formal complaint can be made to the Workplace Contact Unit of the Health and Safety Authority.

Constructive Dismissal
Constructive dismissal under the Unfair Dismissals Acts 1977 – 2007 should only be availed of where you are left with no other option than to resign. Constructive dismissal is legally defined as “the termination by the employee of his contract of employment with his employer, whether prior notice of the termination was or was not given to the employer, in circumstances in which, because of the conduct of the employer, the employee was or would have been entitled, or it was or would have been reasonable for the employee, to terminate the contract of employment without giving prior notice of the termination to the employer.”  It is important that you exhaust any grievance procedure before adopting this course of action and you should obtain legal advice before leaving your job. If you qualify under the unfair dismissals legislation, you may make a claim to the Employment Appeals Tribunal or the Rights Commissioner. If the Tribunal agrees that you were “constructively dismissed”, you may be entitled to compensation from your employer.

Time limits
It should be noted that there are strict time limits provided for in the legislation and some of the time limits can be as short as six months.   Legal advice should be taken from your Solicitor as soon as possible to avoid a claim being deemed out of time.

Personal injury claim*
If the bullying at work is so great that it causes your health (physical or psychological) to suffer or be affected, you may also be entitled to bring a claim for compensation for personal injury.

Contact us at Cantillons Solicitors if you would like to advice on making a bullying at work claim.

Contact us at Cantillons Solicitors at Cork  +353 (0)21 4275673 or Dublin +353 (0)1 264 1802 or email info@cantillons.com  if you would like more information.

* In contentious business, a Solicitor may not calculate fees or other charges as a percentage or proportion of any award or settlement. Many Personal Injury Solicitors portray themselves as “no win no fee Solicitors Cork” or “no win no fee Solicitors Dublin”. This term can be misleading and it is essential that you discuss fees with the Medical Negligence Solicitor you ultimately choose. At Cantillons Solicitors, we are entirely transparent

Jody Cantillon

Partner

Experience

Jody is a Partner in our Litigation Department.

Having graduated from University College Cork in 2009, Jody completed his apprenticeship with a top litigation defence firm in Cork City and qualified as a Solicitor in 2014.

Prior to joining Cantillons Solicitors in 2016, Jody worked for a leading Dublin firm, specialising in the area of commercial litigation and dispute resolution. There he gained valuable experience in defending and prosecuting high end, large scale commercial disputes before the Commercial Court.