The advice from the government website states (and let’s not forget that this applies equally to their own departments!):

“What employees should do if they’re bullied or harassed

Employees should see if they can sort out the problem informally first. If they can’t, they should talk to their:

• manager
• human resources (HR) department
• trade union representative

If this doesn’t work, they can make a formal complaint using their employer’s grievance procedure. If this doesn’t work and they’re still being harassed, they can take legal action at an employment tribunal.”                                                                         https://www.gov.uk/workplace-bullying-and-harassment   

This is great in theory, but if as a civil servant a manager bullies you and no action is taken your options can seem limited.

WHEN BULLYING HAPPENS

From my own experience, I would advise those who feel they are being bullied as follows:-

Bullies aim to exploit the vulnerabilities of others so as to deflect attention from their own perceived shortcomings. The bully is likely to be persistently malicious, humiliating and vindictive towards the target.  The target can become stressed to the point of losing all self-belief and suffer mental and / or physical ill health as a result of the constant ill-treatment. [It may also take time for the target to understand what is going on.  It was not until I had received counselling and therapy for the first time in my life that I understood I had been bullied.  Until then I had not been able to understand why I had been treated that way and why my employer had not dealt effectively with the situation.]

The bullying can be acts of commission which often take the form of hostile verbal or non-verbal communication and interfering actions; or acts of omission which can be withholding of resources, time, information, training, support or equipment.  These enable the bully to control the target.

Important: one-off instances of ill-treatment do not fulfill the legal definition of  bullying and harassment, the behaviour has to be persistent.

The bully may at some point draw others into this behaviour, especially if the employer is not taking effective action to remedy matters.

IF YOU ARE BEING BULLIED

It is not your fault: firstly, it is important that you always remember that you are not to blame.  It is believed that when bullies target people at work, the victim generally has qualities the bully wishes he or she had.

Assertiveness: if you are not a naturally assertive person, try to develop this skill.  You should attempt to express your wants, needs, opinions and beliefs in direct, honest and appropriate ways, and to stand up for yourself in such a way that you do not violate another’s rights or self-esteem.

If  the bullying has caused you to develop self doubt which makes assertiveness too difficult and you are not being supported by managers or colleagues, you need to move to the next stage.  This is to start  making a case.

Gather Evidence: this involves recording details of every incident (no matter how small or seemingly inconsequential), this includes dates, places, times and the names of any witnesses [but be warned: they may not support you, and this will be detrimental to your case].  It is also important to record how each incident made you feel.

If the bullying is by email or letter, clearly you can keep all the correspondence which shows this course of behaviour.

If the bullying is verbal, I recommend that you record it on your mobile, or even buy a pinhole camera to wear which will record covertly.  These can be bought online relatively cheaply and would be well worth the financial outlay. Although recordings are unlikely to be permissible as evidence at a tribunal or in court, they would be extremely strong proof to present to a senior manager or HR professional. Also, they would make it very difficult for the bully to lie about their behaviour or for the employer to avoid taking action to resolve the situation.

If you are not able to do this at this stage, you should state your issues in a letter to the bully.

Write a letter: If the bully has made unwarranted criticisms or false allegations about you, or put you down in front of others, record the remarks or behaviour in a letter to him or her. You should quote the remark or describe the behaviour exactly and ask for evidence in writing justifying or providing a good reason for it.

This will get the problem out into the open (although be prepared for the possibility that it may force a confrontation or turn nasty).  It may also help you decide whether to make the problem official.  Significantly, it will help you to recover some of your self-esteem because you are now fighting back.

If the bully does not respond to the letter but stops the offensive behaviour, you have achieved your desired result so could if you wished stop the action.  You should however be on your guard in case the bullying starts again at some stage, so make sure you keep all your evidence.

If the bully discusses the letter calmly and rationally, you could try to get them to agree to treat you in a more respectful, professional way.

If he or she confronts you aggressively, walk away and give serious consideration to making the matter official.

Official Complaint: if you are lucky enough to have a good and fair employer, your complaint will be taken seriously.  The bully will be interviewed in private and action taken. Bullies lie, and this is where your evidence will be invaluable.  If there is a history of complaints about the person behaving this way, the employer should be hearing loud warning bells and taking decisive action.

One thing the employer could consider doing is to set up covert cameras in the work area as this would prove definitively whether bullying is occurring.  Alternatively,  the employer actually telling the bully that cctv cameras are being put into the area could be enough to stop the behaviour.  If the trade union objects to this as some sort of violation of the bully’s employment or human rights, they should also bear in mind that the victim’s rights are being violated by the alleged bullying.

If there is a culture of bullying within the organisation or the bully is seen as too “valuable” to lose, you are unlikely to succeed with your letter of complaint. [My experience was that if you cannot prove your allegations, the bully and the organisation will lie about what happened or try to cover it up, hence my recommendation about covert recordings where you will not have to rely on others’ evidence.]

If your complaint is not acted upon effectively, I would strongly suggest that you look for another job or, if you are in a financial position to resign, do so before your self-esteem and motivation are affected still further.  [I wish I had resigned far earlier than I did.  It takes a long time to regain your equilibrium after such an experience, particularly if the bullying continues via social media for some years, as it has for me].

Consult your Trade Union and the Human Resources Department (HR): if you feel you have no alternative but to stay with your employer even though they are failing you by not acting decisively, your next step should be to consult your trade union and the HR department if there is one. Employers should have an anti-bullying / harassment policy to follow in these cases.

Invoke Grievance Procedures: the next stage would be to invoke your employer’s grievance procedures, during which your allegations should be investigated.

Seek Help from the Citizens’ Advice Bureau: if the above action fails you could contact your local Citizens’ Advice Bureau who will give you basic advice and a list of employment law solicitors.

Consult an Employment Law Solicitor: most of these will act for you if they think you have a reasonable case, but will take a percentage of any financial award from an industrial tribunal which would be the next step.  This is where your evidence will be vital.

There are also some helpful websites, BullyingUK, is one which has useful advice.

THE EMPLOYER

If the victim complains and the employer responds inappropriately or inadequately, the bullying can escalate.  Therefore it is important that you try to put the employer into the position of having to deal effectively with the bullying.

If the employer discounts or deflects a victim’s allegations, in the long-term it will be detrimental to the organisation as it could lead to: reduced productivity; the risk of legal action; loss of employees’ trust in the effectiveness of the complaints process; loss of loyalty from employees; also, loss of valuable, experienced employees.  It is therefore surprising that some employers fail to recognise the need to deal decisively and effectively with allegations of workplace bullying.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, it seems to me that employers need to be honest, transparent and accountable in their dealings with recipients of their services and employees, and unfortunately some fail here.  [An example of this is not dealing with a Freedom of Information request because the organisation does not want the information to become public.  It seems to me that no public organisation should believe it can flout the law by ignoring such a request.]

If civil service departments were inspected periodically by an outside body, in the same way as the Care Quality Commission reports on the NHS, and OFSTED reports on educational establishments, I believe they  would be forced to give more attention to building a positive workplace culture.