Provided By: The Safety Educational Trust
Long-term bullying and harassment by a colleague combined with a negative approach by management forced a long-serving employee to lose the job she loved and was good at.
“Ruth” worked as a manager at a sheltered residence for the elderly but, due to demeaning treatment and intimidation by her line manager, she had to depart her role on health grounds and has yet to fully recover from this harrowing experience.
Ruth told how, a few years ago, her line manager spread gossip and lies to other team members telling them Ruth was writing information about all their conversations and “spying on them” and not to trust her, encouraged by the line manager, some stopped speaking to her causing her mental anguish. In reality, Ruth was only recording the bullying and harassment by her line manager as advised by her Union Representatives.
Once when she was targeted, a friend and colleague phoned the Health and Safety Manager and asked for him to provide support for Ruth. On his arrival at the residence, he was met by the line manager who said he wasn’t needed. However, he stayed and listened to Ruth’s account of the situation that described how working in such a negative environment day after day had caused her to suffer severe stress.
After the meeting, he was himself summoned to a meeting by the HR Director who criticised and tried to reprimand him for intervening in the matter and supporting Ruth. This director asserted that it wasn’t a Health and Safety but a Human Resources issue. He was shocked at the manner in which he was treated and lack of interest by the senior management to address the problem. He left the company himself soon after because he didn’t agree with their ethics.
Ruth hoped things would improve when her line manager left the company, but the same format of abuse continued as the now ex-manager constantly contacted a friend who still worked in the same office for information about Ruth.
Things finally came to breaking point with a change in Ruth’s role. She was still responsible for the wellbeing of frail elderly people in the same building working mainly from the same office. On her return from holiday, the company had changed codes on doors and locks and banned her from using staff facilities, toilets and the staffroom. Certain staff whispered in front of her and personal items went missing. She was told not to use the office bin, write on the whiteboard or use office pens, and was questioned over a broken window blind and other minor matters.
One day, she was ridiculed by a Manager in front of three other employees of the company, and accused of neglecting her duty of care to the tenants of the residence – all untrue. Ruth had evidence proving that the Manager herself was responsible and had not done her job properly. But sadly, it all proved to be unbearable. The stress and anxiety proved so great that Ruth’s doctor prescribed anti-depressants and arranged counselling. However, the situation had deteriorated so much that she had no choice but to leave the job she loved.
After nearly two years, Ruth is now working for another employer and trying to put it all behind her, but still gets upset talking about it, largely because nothing was ever done about it: “They didn’t care about my mental health and my suffering, a joke as they had won “Investors in People.”
Ruth’s advice for anyone in the same position is: “If there are any signs early on that a manager or someone in a position of power is abusing that power in any way whatsoever, you should definitely tell someone as soon as possible. Note down and keep a record of what has happened so that you can verify if you are indeed being bullied, and bring it to the attention of those with authority. The perpetrators may not even realise that they are doing it, but without letting people know, nothing will change. The vast majority of good companies will have a policy on dealing with internal bullying. I understand that, since I left, they have changed their policy.
“Therefore, it appears that someone at some level has done something about it – but not enough to prevent the work culture being one that I believe encourages bullying of employees. I feel the perpetrators have gone totally unchallenged and not been held account for their shameful behaviour, and the company has failed to apologise for what has happened and for not doing the ‘right thing’.”
To assist those who may be experiencing bullying in the workplace themselves, The Safety Educational Trust will be holding drop-in sessions and workshops on the subject of bullying, where attendees can tell their stories of bullying in private if requested, and with confidence that they will receive support and advice on how to tackle their problems.
These drop-in group sessions are available on Friday December 4, Monday December 7, Friday December 11 and Monday December 14 from 10.00-13.00 at Suite 115, One Old Hall Street, Liverpool L3 9HF. Confidential Individual sessions can be arranged if required. For further information, visit http://tiny.cc/3f365x and/or email admin@thesafetyeducationaltrust.org.
