Some surprising findings have emerged from a recent survey of 25,000 women in the UK carried out by charity Opportunity Now and professional services group, Price Waterhouse Cooper.

The survey found the most common form of bullying experienced by women at work was in fact, harassment by other women.

And of these women, many said it was because their more senior colleagues felt threatened by their abilities.

The report also found more than half of the women aged between 28 and 40 had experienced some bullying or harassment at work over the past three years.

Even more worryingly, of these a further 12 per cent said they had been sexually harassed, or the recipients of ‘unwelcome comments of a sexual nature’; although less than one per cent said they had reported it.

Furthermore, a quarter of women surveyed stated their boss often overloaded them with work and constantly criticised them, while a similar amount suffered from ‘over-bearing supervision or other misuse of power or position’.

Significantly, even women at board level reported harassment with 52 per cent saying they had experienced it in some form or another.

So what is going wrong in the workplace?

Obviously in Australia, as in the UK, national and state laws cover equal employment opportunity and anti-discrimination or bullying in the workplace.

Indeed, organisations are required by law to create a workplace free from discrimination and harassment.

There are also very clear guidelines that employers should not discriminate on the grounds of race, colour, gender, sexual preference, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, or religion.

But, it seems the problems still exist.

According to the US Workplace Bullying Institute (WBI), workplace bullying or harassment is defined as repeated, health-harming mistreatment of one or more persons.

Interestingly, our own Australian Public Service Commission (APSC) has some very helpful guidelines in place to prevent workplace harassment, many of which focus on promoting a positive workplace culture.

These guidelines include:

1. Identifying bullying behaviours early on

If bullying does occur, it is important to recognise this behaviour and act on it early. This will help maintain a culture where bullying is not tolerated

2. Managing workplace stress

Sometimes bullying behaviours can result simply from too much stress being placed on employees. Therefore, it is important organisations ensure their employees understand their roles, and have the appropriate skills to do their job

3. Providing regular performance feedback

It is a manager’s responsibility to provide feedback to employees on their work and performance. Also, when this feedback is provided properly and respectfully (to help assist the employee to improve their performance or behaviour), it should not be perceived as bullying.

Safe Work Australia is also very clear about what an employee should do if they experience bullying, harassment or intimidation in the workplace. As a first step – and only if the problem cannot be resolved by broaching the subject with the perpetrator - the employee needs to check their workplace has a bullying policy and reporting procedure.

This policy should outline how the organisation can prevent and respond to workplace bullying or harassment.

The next step is for the employee to seek advice from their supervisor or manager, human resources officer, or health and safety representative.

They can also assist in confirming the behaviour is definitely workplace harassment.

Finally, should the problem not be solved internally, an order to prevent or stop a worker being bullied or harassed can be made under the Fair Work Act 2009 by contacting the Fair Work Commission.



