Back off on bullying or else

Posted 24/02/2010

With research showing that bullying at work is soaring, employment experts are encouraging companies to tackle workplace bullying.

According to public sector union Unison, reports of bullying have doubled in the past decade and their survey of 7,000 workers found that more than one in three had been bullied in the past six months.

“Figures show that 20% of management time is spent in dealing with conflict and 50% of staff who take long term sickness are struggling with bullying issues so it’s important that companies take a serious look at how much time their managers spend dealing with conflict, and how much litigation has to be handled by their lawyers.” says Ross Strowger an Employment Expert at East Anglian Law Firm, Ashtons Legal.

“If there’s a problem, they need to take action and deal with negative behaviour. As well as avoiding the cost of employment tribunals, a good working environment pays dividends all round.”

Defending a tribunal claim costs employers an average of