HR pushes workplace bullying up the agenda

New policies and training initiatives instigated by HR departments are helping increase awareness of bullying in the workplace, finds a new IRS study.

Among the 92 organisations taking part in the survey, just seven have no written policy covering bullying in the workplace - and among these, three intend to introduce one in the near future.

While some employers have been spurred into action following training and bullying awareness campaigns, others are taking the issue more seriously following incidents in their workplace.

Some 69 respondents (75%) said that one or more bullying incidents had been reported during the past two years, and in the worst cases the numbers averaged more than 100 per year. In total, 535 incidents were reported at these 69 organisations over the past 12 months.

Resolving bullying cases informally is by far the most favoured approach, cited by 86 of the 92 respondent employers. An informal resolution is the most common outcome at 60 organisations, while 43 said that most frequently the bullying allegations are dismissed as unfounded. A further 38 said that the case is most likely to end with some form of disciplinary action.

  • Ousting the workplace bully: learning from experience and Bully for who? How HR defines and deals with bullying   Writing in IRS Employment Review, Charlotte Wolff presents the complete findings of the survey, based on responses from 92 organisations, together employing 233,670 staff.

    Also

    [Article:58417 "Time to ban the bullies  Andrea Adams Trust chairman Chris Ball argues that the damage to organisations caused by bullying makes the business case for intervention ever more compelling.

    Dignity at work policy , Policy on investigating claims of bullying and harassment, Policy on dealing with harassment complaints    From HR & Compliance Centre's model policies and documents service.

    Ban Bullying at Work Day"]    Visit the website of the National Ban Bullying at Work campaign, organisers of the annual Ban Bullying at Work Day.

    Best practice on dealing with workplace bullying  Access HR & Compliance Centre's extensive article resource on tackling workplace bullying.