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Stopping harassment and bullying at work

September 2004

Introduction
The Staff and Associate Specialists Committee aims to promote a working environment where all forms of harassment and bullying are regarded as unacceptable, and any incidents arising from such behaviour are not tolerated. Bullying and harassment in the workplace can have long term effects on the wellbeing and morale of not just doctors, but departments and whole organisations.

This guidance endeavours to promote awareness of harassment and bullying, to inform doctors of their rights as an employee and create a model procedure for doctors who are victims of such behaviour.

What is harassment
Harassment can take many forms. It may be an isolated incident or a persistent and ongoing form of abuse. Harassment may be directed towards an individual or group of individuals and may be carried out by an individual or a group of individuals. It is any behaviour, whether verbal, non-verbal, or physical, which is offensive, belittling or demeaning to the individual or group. Harassment may be categorised as one of the following although it is not limited to items in this list:

• Unwanted physical-contact of any form, including inappropriate touching and assault to a point where an individual becomes uncomfortable.
• Verbal harassment including the use of foul language
• Offensive working environment including inappropriate posters, images, and other paraphernalia
• Pressure of sexual favours in return for promotion.
• Electronic communication systems that harasses others on the basis of sex, race, age, disability, religion.
• Inappropriate visual leering at a person’s body to a point where an individual becomes uncomfortable or intimidated.
• Intrusion into personal affairs, including stalking and spying.

What is bullying
Bullying is where an individual or group abuses a position of power or authority over another person or persons that leaves the victim(s) feeling hurt, vulnerable, angry, or powerless. Bullying includes but is not limited to:

• Aggression, including threats, shouting abuse and obscenities and shouting at people to get work done.
• Persistent humiliation, ridicule or criticism in front of patients, colleagues or alone.
• Malicious rumours.
• Unjustifiably changing areas of responsibility and relegating people to demeaning and inappropriate tasks.
• Deliberately excluding the individual from discussions or decisions.
• Aggressive communication of any form, including electronic communication.

What is unlawful victimisation
This occurs where a person is treated less favourably because they have asserted their rights. This may include coming forward with alleged claims themselves or acting as a witness for another individual. An employee should be protected from victimisation for assisting in an investigation or bringing a complaint.

Victimisation includes but is not limited to:

• Refusing reasonable requests such as unjustifiably blocking access to promotion
• Refusing access to training or continuing profession development
• Selecting a person for redundancy without proper justification
• Subjecting a person to unwarranted disciplinary action
• Subjecting a person to any other detriment

The legal position
Harassment is at present held to be discrimination under the Sex Discrimination Act 1975, the Race Relations Act 1976 and Race Relations (Amendment) Act, and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. The Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994 created the criminal offence of intentional harassment. The Protection from Harassment Act 1997s makes it a criminal offence to pursue a course of conduct, which amounts to harassment of a person, or which causes a person to fear that violence will be used against them. The Act also creates a civil remedy, enabling victims to seek an injunction or damages. The penalties for a conviction are up to six months imprisonment or a fine of up to £5000. The Employment Equality (Religion or Belief) Regulations 2003 and The Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2003 introduced protection against discrimination on the grounds of religion or sexual orientation.

Effects of harassment and bullying
Harassment or bullying can have more than one adverse effect. It can impact on a person’s working life and prevent them from doing their jobs effectively. It can affect the general health and well being including psychological effects. Bullying can undermine self-confidence that may lead to lack of attendance, with an effect on other doctors and health professionals working within the department. It can have a negative impact on the whole department’s morale and ability to work together as part of a team.

Responsibilities of your trust board and human resources team
It should be the responsibility of the Trust board to disseminate an up to date policy document on harassment and bullying to all employees within the Trust and to ensure that managers and supervisors are fully aware of the responsibilities to their staff and the legal consequences of any action. Training for Trust staff must be specific and appropriate, and subject to updating as required.

Complaints should be dealt with quickly, seriously and confidentially and should seriously consider regular reports to the board to review and monitor the policy.

Responsibilities of managers and supervisors
Managers and Supervisors are expected to lead by example and set a good example by treating all employees with dignity and respect. Management must be on the look out for behaviour that may be construed as bullying or harassment or in any way unacceptable to an individual or group. They must work effectively and quickly to resolve any instances where harassment and bullying have been alleged and ensure there is no victimisation or recurrence after a complaint has been seen to be resolved.

Responsibilities of you as an employee
It is the responsibility of the individual to be responsible for their own actions whilst at work. These responsibilities include not intentionally harassing or bullying anybody while at work and ensuring that people are treated with respect and dignity.

It is up to the individual to report incidents immediately whether they are against themselves or witness to others, however insignificant they may seem.

Procedure
All complaints should be taken seriously and investigated quickly. It is recognised that many people who are subject to harassment or bullying do not complain about what is happening to them. Various reasons can account for their reticence; it may be, for example, because they feel embarrassed, they do not believe anything can or will be done about it, they are worried that no one will believe them or that they will be victimised. It could just be that they do not want to get the other person into trouble. Some doctors experiencing harassment or bullying from a senior doctor or group of doctors may try to cope by regarding such behaviour as simply ‘part of the job’.

Bullying and Harassment is not acceptable in any circumstances. If you experience harassment or bullying there are differing ways of addressing the situation depending on the individual incident and the decision of the victim.

First steps
In the first instance it is advisable to contact your HR department to see if there is a harassment and bullying policy readily available. If you are uncomfortable contacting your HR department at this juncture you should contact your local BMA office to see if they have a policy for your Trust or ask them to contact your HR department for this reason.

If you believe that you are being subjected to bullying or harassment, you should consider keeping a diary of events, including the date/time, what happened and who was present as this will be very helpful for any action you may want to take.

Formal action
Informal action is normally a very effective method of dealing with cases of bullying and harassment, but if you feel that you cannot find a resolution via this channel or you have been unsuccessful previously you may feel the need to take formal action. You should seek advice from your local BMA office before taking formal action. You may also wish to take additional advice or counselling at this stage. The following sets out a model process:

• If the incident is isolated it is important to create a written report of the event with as much detail as possible and name any witnesses (if this is appropriate).
• Make a verbal or written complaint sent in confidence to the Human Resources Department. You may wish to get assistance or representation from the BMA, your line manager (if appropriate), the HR manager or a staff representative.
• An investigative process should ensue with the involvement of the human resources team if required.
• Where a case to answer has been found, formal disciplinary procedure against the harasser/bully should be invoked, depending on the case and individual Trust.
• Where a possible criminal offence has been disclosed, the police should be informed of the allegation.
• If it is found there is no case, ways to improve their working life should be considered and support provided. There should be a follow up process by the HR department to ensure no victimisation has taken place and that both parties are happy with the decision.
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