I have previously posted about bullying in March 2015. Since then the impression I have gained is that claims of bullying are on the rise. Bullying seems as prevalent now as RSI was in the 1990s. My concern is that many claims of bullying are completely overstated, here are some recent examples:
My boss yelled at me when I accidentally closed the door on his hand.
I told my manager that my seat was uncomfortable and she did nothing about it.
A male co-worker put up a calendar on the noticeboard. It had pictures of girls in swimsuits. I felt angry and humiliated and tore it down. He swore at me. I left work. Management had not been supportive.
My boss made critical remarks about my work performance in my work appraisal. I felt angry and humiliated.
I told my boss that I had to leave early for a hairdressing appointment because it was my sister’s wedding on Saturday but she wouldn’t let me go early. I was really upset!
In each of these situations the person had ceased work and had made a WorkCover claim. One wonders what planet they came from.
On the other hand all of us have heard stories of what appears to be very clear verbal and sometimes physical abuse, discrimination, phone calls at night, trashing a person’s locker and so forth. These are genuine instances of terrible behaviour that all of us could identify with. The shame about the trivial complaints is that they diminish the impact of the serious complaints.
I have provided a link to an article quoting an anti-bullying website and to a recent decision at Fair Work in which a claim of bullying was rejected..
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