Workplace bullying
... can affect the health of employees in many ways and is illegal in most Australian jurisdictions and in New Zealand under Occupational Health and Safety legislation.
Generally, employers are required to protect people at a place of work against risks to health or safety
arising out of the activities of persons at work to promote a safe and healthy work environment for people at work that
protects them from injury and illness and that is adapted to their physiological and psychological needs

to ensure that risks to health and safety at a place of work are identified, assessed and eliminated or controlled...
Significant penalties can apply to both the perpetrator and employer who fails to protect employees from bullying. Additionally, workplace bullying which involves assault or threat of assault may become a police matter.

Generally, workplace bullying is estimated at a 3.5 percent prevalence rate. In a 12 month period the Victorian Workcover Authority received 542 claims where the injury was harassment or exposure to workplace occupational violence. During the same year the Authority received a further 557 claims of injury due to assault.
The estimated costs of bullying to both employers, and the economy, are substantial. In one study 75 percent of victims of long term bullying displayed symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

What is workplace bullying?
The public comment draft of the Victorian Workcover Authority’s Proposed Code of Practice for the Prevention of Bullying and Violence in the Workplace, contains the following definition of workplace bullying:
"Workplace bullying is repeated, unreasonable behaviour directed toward an employee, or group of employees, that creates a risk to health and safety."
An Irish Taskforce on Workplace Bullying found that bullies tend to operate over a long period of time, often with minor actions which accumulate to create a hostile work environment. Often the perpetrator has a supervisory role, although sometimes both the perpetrator and the victim have the same status.

It can be:

direct and/or indirect

verbal and/or physical
It is important to note that an isolated incident which fits the description above is would not normally be considered to be bullying.
Many studies link the prevalence of bullying to characteristics of workplace organisation. Several factors appear influential, including workload, organisational culture, managerial styles, marginalisation and alienation. Internal change, budget cuts, employees without relevant skills being moved into management, and restructuring are all contributing factors. They tend to result in the following being, slowly, entrenched in an organisation’s culture. Each if done repeatedly is a type of bullying.
• shouting or abusive language
• people afraid to speak up about conditions, behaviours, or health and
• safety.
• unreasonable demands or impossible targets
• restrictive and petty rules
• being required to perform tasks without adequate training
• being forced to stay back to finish work or additional tasks
• compulsory overtime, unfair rostering or allocation of work
• constant, intrusive surveillance or monitoring
• no say in how your job is done
• interference with person belongings or sabotage of work
• open or implied threat of the sack, or demotion.
• belittling opinions or constant criticism
• inappropriate comments about your appearance, personal life orlifestyle
• deliberately withholding work-related information or resources
• being required to perform trivial, meaningless tasks
• unreasonable administrative sanctions, such as delaying leave applications
• displaying written or pictorial material which degrades or offends you
• isolating employees from others.

A compliant anti-bullying policy can help prevent these behaviours and lessen the possibility of adverse attention, prosecution and higher workcover leview or premiums if they do occur in your organisation.

Standard all-jurisdictions template $150

All 7 templates $700.