1. THE EXTENT OF BULLYING AND HARASSMENT AT WORK

Bullying and harassment are major problems in workplaces today and there is disturbing evidence that the economic downturn is making matters worse.

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. This is because “harassment“ is a form of statutory discrimination, which may give rise to a claim under the Equality Act 2010 (see Chapter 2: The Law). For harassment to be covered by the Act, it must relate to sex or gender, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, sexual orientation, race, religion or belief, age or disability.