Employment & Pensions Blog: Anti-Bullying Week - The Importance of Positive Action to Prevent Bullying at Work

Last week was UK Anti-Bullying Week and this year’s theme was Power for Good – using your power for good to stop bullying. Workplace bullying continues to be a common theme in grievances and Employment Tribunal claims alike. Anti-Bullying Week serves as a useful reminder to businesses of the negative consequences of bullying in the workplace. It’s also an opportunity for businesses to revisit their approach to workplace culture and their responsibilities to prevent bullying and harassment. 

Bullying and Harassment 

Workplace bullying can take many forms: exclusion, unwelcome remarks, misuse of power, and even persistent microaggressions. 

While bullying itself is not a standalone statutory claim, it often overlaps with harassment which is prohibited under the Equality Act 2010 where the unwanted conduct relates to a protected characteristic and violates someone’s dignity or creates an intimidating or degrading environment at work. Through the upcoming Employment Rights Bill, businesses will now have an obligation to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent employees from being harassed by third parties at work.  

The Equality Act 2010 aside, employees who are forced to resign because of a bullying culture in the workplace could have grounds for a constructive dismissal claim where the business has failed to manage the situation and take appropriate action.

Beyond the risk of legal claims, bullying creates poor morale, high levels of sickness absence and staff turnover, reduced productivity, and reputational damage. It is increasingly expected that organisations take proactive steps to prevent misconduct, and nowadays a failure to stamp out bullying isn’t viewed as passive oversight, but instead as a weakness in leadership. This mirrors the new third party-harassment liability which will require the employer to take “all reasonable steps” to prevent it, rather than a passive approach of just not allowing it.

The Importance of Anti-Bullying Policies 

A well-drafted and well-known anti-bullying policy is the cornerstone of compliance and good culture management. A good policy should:

• Set clear behavioural expectations - Employees should understand the types of conduct the organisation considers unacceptable, both overt acts and subtle behaviours.

• Set out clear and accessible reporting channels - Policies must clearly explain how concerns can be raised, with multiple routes for employees who may not feel comfortable approaching their line manager.

• Explain how complaints will be handled - Consistency, impartiality, confidentiality, and timely investigations are crucial. Employees must trust that concerns will receive appropriate attention.

• Address third-party misconduct - In anticipation of the Employment Rights Bill becoming law, policies should make clear how the organisation will protect staff from customer or client behaviour, including when staff can withdraw from unsafe situations and how incidents will be escalated.

• Integrate with wider HR policies - Anti-bullying policies should sync up with grievance and whistleblowing policies, and disciplinary procedures.

Just Having a Policy Isn’t Enough

Employment Tribunals increasingly look beyond written policies to determine how these issues are being actively managed in the workplace and what is being done to prevent it. Simply having a policy in place with no active steps being taken to enforce and promote a positive working culture won’t be enough to escape liability in some legal claims. Regular training for all members of staff is key, and it’s also important to ensure that:

• Managers are confident in handling complaints promptly and sensitively.

• Employees have a clear understanding of what is acceptable and what is not in the workplace. The common defence to a bullying allegation is that it was just ‘banter’ – but what one person perceives as banter might be interpreted entirely differently by another.  

• Front-line staff, especially those dealing with the public, know how to respond to third-party misconduct.

• Anti-bullying and harassment policies are kept under regular review.

• Carry out risk assessments in customer-facing areas. For example, where the business has employees working closely with service users, residents, or delivery people.

• Refresh staff and manager training.

• Review contractual arrangements in place with third parties (suppliers, residents, service users etc.) to ensure clear expectations around respectful conduct to wards employees. 

If businesses or individuals require assistance with any bullying or harassment issues in the workplace, please contact a member of our Employment Team.