1. The extent of bullying and harassment at work

Recent surveys confirm that bullying and harassment remain major and growing problems in UK workplaces, and there is some evidence that government austerity policies are contributing to an increasing level of bullying and inappropriate behaviour.

While there is often an overlap between the types of behaviour associated with bullying and harassment, there is a difference in the way the law approaches the two categories.

“Harassment” is a form of statutory discrimination which can give rise to a claim under the Equality Act 2010 (EA 10) (see Chapter 2: The Law). For harassment to be covered by the Act, it must be related to race; religion or belief (or lack of belief); sex; age; sexual orientation; disability; or because someone intends to undergo, is undergoing or has undergone gender reassignment. These are referred to in the EA 10 as the “protected characteristics” (see page 27).

But as construction union UCATT points out: “Quite unbelievably, the law does not expressly protect employees from bullying and harassment generally”, and there is no legislation specifically aimed at preventing bullying.