'Bullying' is clearly defined in law. Giving his leading judgment in the House of Lords 12 May 2006, in Majrowski v Guys and St Thomas NHS Trust, Lord Nicholls of Birkenhead cites the 1997 Protection from Harassment Act:
"The purpose of this statute is to protect victims of harassment, whatever form the harassment takes, wherever it occurs and whatever its motivation. The Act seeks to provide protection against stalkers, racial abusers, disruptive neighbours, bullying at work and so forth. Section 1 prohibits harassment in these terms:
(1) A person must not pursue a course of conduct (a) which amounts to harassment of another, and (b) which he knows or ought to know amounts to harassment of the other.
[2006] 4 All ER 395 at 403
(2) For the purposes of this section, the person whose course of conduct is in question ought to know that it amounts to harassment of another if a reasonable person in possession of the same information would think the course of conduct amounted to harassment of the other.' "
[[2006] UKHL 34]
So it's clear: 'workplace bullying' amounts to harassment, under the Act. 'Harassment' is identified as a serious criminal offence, carrying a custodial sentence. Employers are vicariously liable to pay damages for injury to health or financial loss if they permit an employee to harass another in the course of their work.
The judgment helpfully illustrates bullying behaviour experienced by Mr Majrowski which amounts to harassment:
"He claimed she bullied and intimidated him. She was, he said, rude and abusive to him in front of other staff. She was excessively critical of his time-keeping and work. She imposed unrealistic performance targets for him and threatened him with disciplinary action if he failed to meet them. She isolated him by refusing to talk to him."
If they don't already know then tell your union or legal representatives about this and MAKE them act on it. The law is quite specific and clear you have the protection
PLEASE take a few moments to go to our FaceBook Page:
and then click on the 'LIKE' button on the page:
Using Social Networking is the quickest and easiest way to spread our campaign.
Then, KEEP COMING BACK! News and latest developments will appear here shortly.