Monitoring the climate in your workplace

The TUC emphasises the crucial importance of an accurate record of the causes and effects of bullying and harassment in the workplace. It says a record is needed so as to:

• identify individuals and groups at risk;

• identify potential sources of bullying and harassment at work;

• identify the measures needed to reduce the risks;

• assess whether those measures are working; and

• provide evidence to support complaints, absence for ill health or effects on work levels.

However, according to the TUC, research suggests that only serious health effects or incidents get reported because:

• the bullied person is afraid of the consequences of reporting the bully;

• the climate or culture at the workplace (or the individual’s own personality) encourage the bullied worker to see complaining and reporting as a sign of weakness or inability to cope;

• the effects of bullying and harassment are not considered sufficiently serious;

• there is not enough time to make a proper report — or the reporting system is too complicated; and

• the worker thinks there is no point reporting the bullying because nothing will be done.

TUC Workplace Manual, 2012

Reps can help to overcome these hurdles by reminding management of the core findings of the Dignity at Work project and by raising awareness of the importance of a climate in which every person is respected and treated with dignity, using the suggestions at the start of this chapter.