Bullying can occur wherever people work together. Whether it is intended or not, bullying is an occupational health and safety hazard. A broad range of behaviours can be bullying, and these behaviours can be direct or indirect.
Examples of direct forms of bullying include:
• Verbal abuse;
• Putting someone down;
• Spreading rumours or innuendo about someone; and
• Interfering with someone’s personal property or work equipment.
Examples of indirect bullying include:
• Unjustified criticism or complaints;
• Deliberately excluding someone from workplace activities;
• Deliberately denying access to information or other resources;
• Withholding information that is vital for effective work performance;
• Setting tasks that are unreasonably above or below a worker’s ability;
• Deliberately changing work arrangements, such as rosters and leave which inconvenience a particular worker or workers;
• Setting timelines that are very difficult to achieve; and
• Excessive scrutiny at work.
Bullying can be carried out verbally, physically or in writing, for example, via email, internet chat rooms, instant messaging and mobile phone technologies such as text messaging.
Bullying can be directed in a range of ways in a workplace – downwards (from supervisors or managers to workers), sideways (between workers or co-workers) and upwards (from workers to supervisors or managers). Bullying can be directed at a single worker or at more than one worker. It can be carried out by one or more workers.
What isn’t bullying?
Reasonable management actions carried out in a fair way are not bullying. For example:
• Setting performance goals, standards and deadlines;
• Allocating work to a worker;
• Rostering and allocating working hours;
• Transferring a worker;
• Deciding not to select a worker for promotion;
• Informing a worker about unsatisfactory work performance;
• Informing a worker about inappropriate behaviour;
• Implementing organisational changes;
• Performance management processes;
• Constructive feedback; and
• Downsizing.
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