Bullying in local government

In December 2014, the Local Government News magazine reported survey findings indicating that almost three-quarters of council staff had experienced or witnessed unacceptable behaviour at work, and of these 89% had been the victims of bullying. It also found that one in 10 people had received verbal abuse or threats via social media (see page 13).

Again, many incidents went unreported with less than half (47%) of those who had witnessed incidents reporting them. Of those who said they had reported inappropriate behaviour to their manager or to HR, 56% said that management had failed to tackle the problem, and 8% said it made the problem worse. Only 16% said that reporting the behaviour had stopped the problem. Forty four per cent of those who did not report incidents said that they were concerned it would escalate the problem, while just under a third said that they feared they may lose their job as a result of complaining. Many said that the bullying came from their line manager.

More than half (52%) said that austerity measures, in the form of budget cuts, had increased the amount of bullying and inappropriate behaviour at work as a result of increased stress and uncertainty in the workplace.