Amicus warns employers not to tolerate bullying

Professional union Amicus has urged employers to take a "zero-tolerance" approach to bullying, after new research by the union revealed the scale of the problem in UK workplaces.

An Amicus poll, conducted as part of the government-funded Dignity at Work project, found that only 2% of employers refuse to tolerate bullying outright and 97% have never quantified the impact of bullying. Although 80% of organisations had an anti-bullying policy in place, more than half of still think bullying is an issue in their organisation.

"Bullying in the workplace can destroy people's lives, said Amicus general secretary Derek Simpson. "Our project aims to tackle this problem in partnership with employers by taking a zero-tolerance approach from the outset."

Research conducted by Portsmouth University backs this approach. Tackling bullying and harassment recommends that:

* bullying should be recognised as an organisational issue, not just a problem between individuals;

* all anti-bullying and harassment policies should be clearly set out and communicated, along with the business case for them;

* organisations should use the term "bullying" to describe negative behaviours;

* all managers should be trained in mediation and conflict resolution;

* managers at the very top should lead by example, with a senior member of management becoming an "anti-bullying champion"; and

* workers should be involved in creating and implementing initiatives, so they have ownership of both the problem and the solution.

Welcoming the Portsmouth research, Simpson said: "We will be taking these findings to workplaces across the country and we hope employers will join us in spreading dignity in the workplace."

Tackling bullying and harassment can be downloaded from www.port.ac.uk/research/workplacebullying/filetodownload,52783,en.pdf