Workplace bullying is harmful, targeted behavior that happens at work. It might be spiteful, offensive, mocking, or intimidating. It forms a pattern, and it tends to be directed at one person.

Workplace bullying includes:

• targeted practical jokes
• being purposely misled about work duties
• continued denial of requests for time off without an appropriate or valid reason
• threats, humiliation, and other verbal abuse
• excessive performance monitoring
• overly harsh or unjust criticism

Criticism or monitoring isn’t always bullying. For example, constructive criticism and disciplinary action directly related to workplace behavior or job performance aren’t considered bullying.

But criticism meant to intimidate or humiliate would be considered bullying.

Existing federal and state laws only protect workers against bullying when it involves physical harm or when the target belongs to a protected group, such as people living with disabilities.

Since bullying is often verbal or psychological in nature, it may not always be visible to others.

Identifying workplace bullying

Bullying can be subtle. One helpful way to identify bullying is to consider how others might view what’s happening. Or, if noticing it to someone else, how you would feel if these things were happening to you.

Types of bullying

• This could include mockery, humiliation, jokes, or gossip.
• This might include threats, exclusion, spying, or other invasions of privacy.
• Related to work performance. Wrongful blame, work sabotage, or taking credit for ideas.
• In some cases, talking about the bullying can lead to accusations of lying, further exclusion, refused promotions, or other retaliation.
• Institutional bullying happens when a workplace accepts, allows, and even encourages bullying to take place. This bullying might include unrealistic production goals, forced overtime, or singling out those who can’t keep up.

Early warning signs of bullying can vary:

• Co-workers might become quiet or leave the room when you walk in or just ignore you.
• You might be left out of office culture, such as breakroom talking or team lunches.
• You may be asked to do new tasks or tasks outside your typical duties without training or help, even when you request it.
• It may seem like your work is frequently monitored, to the point where you begin to doubt yourself and have difficulty with your regular tasks.
• You might be asked to do difficult or seemingly pointless tasks and be ridiculed or criticized when you can’t get them done.
• You may notice a pattern of your documents, files, other work-related items, or personal belongings going missing.

These incidents may seem random at first. If they continue, you may worry something you did caused them and fear you’ll be fired or demoted. Thinking about work may cause anxiety.

Who gets bullied and who does the bullying?

Anyone can bully others. According to research from the Workplace Bullying Institute:

• About 70% of bullies are male, 30% female.
• 61% of bullying comes from bosses or supervisors. 33% comes from co-workers. The remaining 6% occurs when people at lower employment levels bully their supervisors.

Bullying from managers might involve abuse of power, including negative performance reviews that aren’t justified, shouting or threats of firing or demotion, or denying time off or transfer to another department.

People working at the same level often bully through gossip, work sabotage, or criticism.

Lower-level employees can bully those working above them. For example, someone might:

• show continued disrespect to their manager
• refuse to complete tasks
• spread rumors about the manager
• do things to make their manager seem incompetent.

Targets of bullying are more likely to be kind, compassionate, cooperative, and agreeable people.

Bullying may occur more frequently in work environments that:

• are stressful or change frequently
• have heavy workloads
• have unclear policies about employee behavior
• have poor employee communication.

How can bullying affect your health?

Physical health effects of bullying.

• Feeling sick or anxious before work or when thinking about work
• Symptoms such as digestive issuesor high blood pressure 
• Trouble waking up or getting quality sleep
• Headaches or decreased appetite

Mental health effects of bullying.

• Thinking and worrying about work constantly
• Dreading work and wanting to stay home
• Needing time off to recover from stress
• Losing interest in things you usually like to do
• Feeling depressed and anxious
• Suicidal thoughts
• Low self-esteem

How does bullying affect the workplace?

Workplaces with high rates of bullying can also experience negative consequences, such as:

• financial loss resulting from legal costs or bullying investigations
• decreased productivity and morale
• increased employee absences
• high turnover rates
• poor team dynamics
• reduced trust, effort, and loyalty from employees

When bullying isn’t addressed, it becomes easier for people to continue. Bullies who take credit for work or intentionally make others look bad may end up receiving praise or being promoted.

What to do if you’re being bullied at work

When experiencing bullying, it’s common to feel powerless. If you try to stand up to the bully, you may be threatened or told no one will believe you. If it’s your manager bullying you, you may wonder who to tell.

First, take a moment to remind yourself that bullying is never your fault. Even if someone implies you can’t do your job, bullying is more about power and control, not your workability.

Begin to take action against bullying:

• Document the bullying. Keep track of all bullying actions in writing. Note the date, the time, where it took place and other people who were in the room.
• Save physical evidence. Keep any threatening notes or emails you receive. If there are documents that can help prove bullying, keep these in a safe place.
• Report the bullying. Your workplace may have a designated person you can talk to if you don’t feel safe talking to your direct supervisor. Human resources is a good place to start.
• Confront the bully. If you know who’s bullying you, bring along a trusted witness, such as a co-worker or supervisor, and ask them to stop. Be calm, direct, and polite.
• Review work policies. Your employee handbook may outline steps of action or policies against bullying.
• Seek legal guidance. Consider talking to a lawyer, depending on the circumstances of the bullying. Legal action may not always be possible, but a lawyer can offer specific advice.
• Reach out to others. Co-workers may be able to offer support. Talking to your loved ones about the bullying can also help. You can also talk to a therapist.

If you’re a member of a union, your union representative may be able to offer some guidance and support on how to deal with bullying.

Suicide prevention resources

Bullying can affect mental health. In some cases, bullying can contribute to depression and thoughts of suicide.

If you have thoughts of suicide, reach out to a suicide helpline immediately. You can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

 How to help if you witness bullying

If you witness bullying, speak up! People often say nothing out of fear they’ll become targets, but ignoring bullying contributes to a toxic work environment.

If you witness bullying, you can help by:

• Offering support. Support could involve acting as a witness if the targeted person wants to ask the bully to stop. You can also help by going to HR with your co-worker.
• If your co-worker doesn’t feel safe going to HR, they may feel better having someone to talk to about the situation.
• Reporting the incident. Your account of what happened could help your management team realize there’s a problem.
• Staying close to your co-worker, when possible. Having a supportive co-worker nearby could help reduce instances of bullying.

Takeaway

Bullying is a serious issue. While some companies have a zero-tolerance policy, bullying can sometimes be hard to recognize or prove.

If you need to add Bullying Prevention Policies to your current handbook, please email us at [email protected]

Taking steps to prevent workplace bullying can benefit organizations and the health of their employees. If you’ve been bullied, know you can safely take steps to combat the bullying without confronting the perpetrator. Take care of yourself!

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