Bullying in the Workplace
Bullying Guide
Harassment and bullying can sometimes be confused; harassment is generally unwanted and offending behaviour usually on a racial or sexual theme. Sexual harassment occurs when the attacks happen based on your gender or sexual orientation. Racial harassment is when the attacks happen because of the colour of your skin, race or cultural background.
Bullying is persistent unwanted behaviour which hurts or threatens a person regardless of sex or race. Harassment is covered by the discrimination act and the protection from harassment act but bullying is not, so clear decisions have to be made to determine whether you are the victim of harassment or being bullied. The main differences between bullying in the workplace and harassment are:
Harassment
Usually has a physical edge to it such as touching, intrusion into your personal space and damage done to your possessions.
Bullying
Is mostly psychological for example criticism about work or stealing work from you to use as their ideas.
Pressure bullying or unwitting bullying
This type of bullying occurs when stress causes the behaviour to deteriorate and a person will become short tempered, maybe curse a lot and be easily irritated. Most of us will have felt like this at sometimes or other but we can usually deal with it and it has no serious consequences on others and once the pressure has passed our behaviour returns to normal.
We will often feel silly and apologise for our behaviour and any offence it caused others. The bully though will have no control of it and this behaviour happens more frequently and they take it out on people around them, they feel no remorse and the thought of an apology will never enter their heads.
Corporate bullying
This type of bullying in the workplace occurs when the employer abuses employees knowing full well that people will be afraid to stand up to them for fear of losing their job. Instances of corporate bullying are: