Everyone has the right to go to work and not experience bullying or harassment. Understanding what is workplace bullying is vital, as bullying claims at work are increasing every year, often involving allegations of workplace bullying by manager or supervisory teams. Bullying is currently estimated to cost Australian businesses between $17 billion and $36 billion each year, with the average cost for a single claim falling between $17,000 and $24,000.
Many a bullying claim is aimed at bullying by management or employers. This emphasises the difficulty in identifying the difference between bullying and management action – some employees can claim they feel bullied when being performance managed or having disciplinary action taken against them. Yet, management action taken against an employee is not bullying if it is carried out in a reasonable manner.
The Fair Work Act protects employers if they act fairly, making the distinction of reasonable management action vs bullying crucial for business owners to understand. The following are examples of both.
What is workplace bullying?
Examples of workplace bullying by a manager: * being aggressive, intimidating or humiliating * using bad language or rudeness * teasing, playing practical jokes or spreading rumours * exclusion from team activities * unreasonable work expectations, whether it be too much, too little or withholding information needed to do the job
What is reasonable management action?
Reasonable management action includes: * setting reasonable performance goals, standards and deadlines * rostering and allocating working hours * transferring a worker for operational reasons * deciding not to select a worker for promotion where a reasonable process has been followed * informing a worker of their unsatisfactory work performance * informing a worker of their unreasonable or inappropriate behaviour in an objective and confidential way * implementing organisational change or restructuring * taking disciplinary action including suspension or termination of employment
Employers should have the correct systems in place, including policies and procedures to address any employee issues. This ensures that if a claim alleges bullying from manager levels or manager harassment at work, the employer can prove they took documented, reasonable management action.
If you have any questions relating to bullying or reasonable management actions, contact us today. Our specialist team can answer any questions you may have.