ACAS has published a report on its latest research on workplace bullying, which reveals that 20,000 calls were received by ACAS relating to bullying and harassment over the last year, some of which had led the caller to consider self-harm or suicide. This information is concerning, but what could it cost your business?

ACAS Chair, Sir Brendan Barber, said that:

"Our analysis reveals that bullying is on the rise in Britain... Callers to our helpline have experienced some horrific incidents around bullying that have included humiliation, ostracism, verbal and physical abuse. But managers sometimes dismiss accusations around bullying as simply personality or management style clashes whilst others may recognise the problem but lack the confidence or skills to deal with it. Businesses should be taking workplace bullying very seriously as the annual economic impact of bullying-related absences, staff turnover and lost productivity is estimated to be almost £18 billion."

The ACAS report found that people were worried about seeking help from their employer (for example by speaking to HR or raising a grievance) because of fear of retribution and, on the reverse side of the coin, employers without experienced HR support could feel that they lack the skills to deal with bullying allegations or complex grievances. ACAS found that managers who are made aware of a bullying allegation will often favour a simple solution such as moving staff around rather than investigating underlying causes.

What is the cost of a workplace bully?

In general terms, an environment in which bullying and harassment is allowed to occur will begin to have a negative impact on employees. This may impact on morale and productivity of staff in the workplace, and may also result in increased sickness absence. In the longer term, you may lose key employees who no longer wish to remain in an environment where they are bullied or where they can see other people being bullied without any redress.

Where an employee reaches breaking point they may resign and claim constructive dismissal on the basis that the bullying broke down the relationship of trust and confidence that should exist between employer and employee. Where the bullying and harassment relates to the employee’s age, race, sexual orientation, pregnancy, disability or another protected characteristic they may also claim discrimination.

The prospects of these claims succeeding and the amount of compensation that you may be ordered to pay will depend on what steps you have taken to prevent the bullying in the first place. For example:

• Do you have policies dealing with discrimination and harassment and have you trained your staff in connection with them?

• Do you have a grievance procedure and do you investigate and deal with grievances appropriately?

Ignoring a bullying issue or putting it down to management style could be costly. If you’re unsure of the policies you have in place or would like some further advice, please do get in touch.

As always, my direct dial is 01484 821309 or my email address is katebooth@eatonsmith.co.uk

This is not legal advice; it is intended to provide information of general interest about current legal issues.