July 16, 2007
1 comment:
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This story is typical. Complainers against bullying, especially if done by a manager, rarely succeed and usually lead to dismissals. That's just a fact of life in the UK.
Best to use outside of work methods to put a stop to the bullying -- e.g. criminal charges under the protection from harassment act or private civil harassment suits against the bully him/herself.
Or better still organize your own guerilla campaign of countermeasures - e.g. exposure of the bully.
There are no employment rights left in the UK and employers know it. The Tribunals are stacked with Chairs that are biased/in the pocket of employers and precendents have been established allowng employees to be dismissed fairly if they whistleblow, on the grounds that the whistleblowing causes a 'breakdown in working relationships' -- the catch-all dismissal method these days.
This blogspot is one really good place to expose the bullies as it does have the attention of the media. -
10:35 PM
I set out a complaint of bullying under an antibullying policy and grievance procedure, and was asked to justify reference to the grievance procedure. The employer considered the complaint under the antibullying policy only, which had arbitrary investigation procedures and no right of appeal. It was not upheld, and then they terminated my employment.
Policies don't always work as expected, and those with the most offensive working practices often have the best policies. They don't, however, have any form of accountability such as annual records of complaints.