What is: Bullying and Harassment

Creating a safe workplace

As a manager, you’re obliged under the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 to take all reasonably practicable steps to provide and maintain a safe working environment and to protect workers’ physical and psychological health. This means you must promptly deal with any bullying or harassment.

Why is this important and what’s my role?

Bullying of any form or for any reason can harm those involved, including bystanders. If it’s not addressed, it can have negative physical, social, and/or psychological effects. Queensland Health takes a zero tolerance stance on workplace bullying. All employees have a right to, and responsibility for, a safe workplace. Everyone has a role to play in speaking up and reporting any bullying they witness.

What’s bullying?

According to the Industrial Relations Act 2016 (Qld) an employee is bullied in the workplace if, while at work, an individual or group repeatedly behaves unreasonably towards either:

the employee
a group of employees of which the employee is a member

and that behaviour creates risk to the health and safety of the employee.

Bullying can happen in person or online, via digital platforms and devices. Bullying can be obvious (overt) or subtle (covert). It can happen between levels, as well as peer to peer.

What’s not bullying?

It’s not workplace bullying when managers act reasonably.

An employer or manager can:

make decisions about poor performance
take disciplinary action
direct and control the way work is carried out.

If these actions are taken unreasonably, however, this may be considered bullying.

Examples of bullying

Workplace bullying can include the following behaviours, whether intended or not:

inappropriate comments about a person’s appearance, lifestyle, or family
teasing, or regularly making someone the brunt of pranks or practical jokes
deliberately excluding someone from workplace activities or social groups
unjustified criticism, complaints, belittling, or humiliating comments
not sharing relevant or valuable information that a person needs to work effectively
setting unreasonable timelines or constantly changing deadlines
setting tasks that are either unreasonably below or beyond a person’s skill level
spreading misinformation or malicious rumours about a person/group of people
changing a roster/leave, for reasons other than operational requirements, which deliberately inconveniences someone
aggressive and intimidating conduct.

This list is adapted from “Guide for Preventing and Responding to Workplace Bullying” by Safework Australia.

What do I need to do?

If you think you’ve experienced workplace bullying:

ask the other party to stop the behaviour, if you’re comfortable to
document that you have asked for the behaviour to stop
speak to your supervisor or manager, or someone you feel comfortable with
speak to your local HR team
make a complaint in accordance with HR Policy Grievance Resolution (E12)
seek support from the Employee Assistance Program.

If you become aware of workplace bullying:

support your colleagues
document your understanding of the situation, and encourage the other party to do the same
suggest the other party contact a Metro North Health Equity Information Officer
report your concerns to your supervisor or manager, or someone you feel comfortable with.

If you’re a supervisor or manager:

You’re responsible for the safety of your team, including their psychological safety. You need to:

educate your staff about workplace bullying
treat all reports of workplace bullying seriously
support employees
seek advice from your local HR team or Employee Assistance Program if necessary.