Work place bullying - Have you been affected?

whiskeyman

Just saw the below report on the 6-one news.
I know bullying in the workplace exists, but I've never really thought about it that much, probably as I've never had it rough myself.
That said, I know a lot of people who had to leave jobs because of it.
So, just thought I'd throw up a simple poll and see if my fellow boardsies are affected - probably best I make it a multi-selection poll.

RTE wrote:

Workplace bullying a suicide factor.

Up to 100 suicides a year could be result of workplace bullying, a conference in Dublin has heard.

Research shows that two-fifths of workers in this country say they have experienced bullying, and that there is a significant cost to the economy as a result.

This weekend's conference at Trinity college was attended by representatives from across Europe and the world, to examine the growing problem of workplace bullying.

A third of workers in this country say they have been humiliated and shouted at, nearly as many have had obscene language used at them.

More than one in every 20 workers has experienced sexual harrassment, the same proportion has been threatened or has faced actual physical violence.

Poor management is most often cited as being the primary problem.

The conference heard that line managers are more likely than fellow workers to use racist bullying.

However, in Norway, the incidence of bullying has halved in the past 15 years.

Updated data on bullying in the workplace is due from the ESRI in November, after which the government will present its proposals to tackle the problem.

Ruu_Old

I was never bullied or any such behaviour, but a great deal of my colleagues were. Shouted at and humiliated in front of everyone (some would stand up for themselves but others would just take it), its not right.

seamus

I worked in a supermarket when I was 16, and had a position as a part-time price controller (maintains stock prices and makes sure that all shelves are labelled correctly, etc).

The head of the section was out on sick leave for a good while, so one of the other women took over her position. In a word, she was a schizo. Some days she'd be bright and laughing and all nice and other days she was an utter thundering bitch, when nothing I did was ever right and anything which she didn't do suddenly became my problem.

There were two times when she shouted at me on the shop floor in front of staff and customers. The second time a woman even came up to me and said "That's not right, I'm going to complain to the manager. People like that shouldn't be in charge of other people." After I left, the guy who took over my position started having the exact same problems with her. A few weeks after my replacement left, she was "relieved" of her position and moved into another department.

Madge

I worked in a kitchen one Summer and the chef didn't like me from day 1... The manageress told me to clean the dishes, I did and then he screamed at me to mop the floor because he had spilled someting on it :rolleyes: I left it a week later due to his continually agressive manner towards me. I texted the manageress and said "your chef needs to learn some manners"

Jonny Arson

Even though I'm only 20 and worked in 3 jobs, all have been in an extremely friendly environment. I've never faced and personal problems with fellow staff or seen any bullying with other members of staff but from what other people have been telling me, I count myself extremely lucky. Sadly on the law of averages I reckon we all probably will encounter some sort of harrassment or bullying in a job. I know a few people who have worked in high pressure jobs in big corporations who have experienced bullying. My sister has worked in about 5 full time jobs in companies and the only one she was bullied and treated like shit everyday was at one of the biggest and well known banks on Baggot Street. The only other example where I've seen someone affected by workplace bullying was in my current a job when a friend of mine left to work in a rival insurance company. Again she was bullied and harrassed from the moment she entered the building. She has returned to our company after 3 months, alot happier but that experience has made her very bitter. Workplace bullying affects people badly and sadly it's almost near impossible to take any action especially if it is someone in a position above you who will usually get away with murder.

leeroybrown

I'm lucky in that I've always worked in good/friendly working environments where this kind of stuff didn't happen. I've seen situations where employees were openly put under pressure by a manager but in those cases it was just part of that particular job not bullying.

DOLEMAN

When I worked for Oracle (my first "real" job) as a Software Tester, two older employees (programmers) bullied me. They disliked that I found a huge amount of problems in their code and that I was a southsider. They used to regularily tell me they "hate what my accent represents".

Completely pathetic. They were 40ish. I was 20. I was too young/naive to do anything about it (management knew but did nothing.) I wish they'd try that **** on with me now...

Other than that, Oracle was a lovely place to work.

The Hill Billy

A few years ago I worked on a contract in Belfast for one of the top (in Ireland & Britain) IT consultancy firms. Not only was I the only contractor, but also the only Catholic Free-Stater.

The weekly management meetings were a bloody nightmare. The project manager, business analysis lead & development lead (all permanent staff & prods) made sh1t of me on a regular basis in the meetings. The analysis & development leads were totally inept & missing all their project dates - thus forcing my dates out (I was managing the software testing) - I was the one who received the b0llicking. The three of them used to sit there & openly take the p1ss about me being from "the south" & "a money-grubbing contractor" & not doing my job. (WTF?! If the business analysis is not done - my team can't do the test analysis; if the development is not done - my team can't do the software testing.)

This carry-on happens at all levels - not just on "the shop floor".

The ultimate kick in the teeth? ... They also stiffed me for €6k in travel & accomodation expenses!

But, what goes around comes around...

JimmySmith

in this day and age of mobile phones and recording devices it should be very easy to protect yourself from bullying. I f you get someone bullying you or making jokes at your expense that you dont find funny then slpap the recorder on the table and say 'You dont mind if i record this bullying, just in case it doesnt stop today - do you' and i bet you never hear another word from them.
If you need evidence for a case then just record it without their knowledge. Dont mind all that rubbish about recordings without permission, they are admissable.

techtom

Management in small companies can do what they want.

I know people that were Ignored by managers left doing little / to nothing .
So that they would eventually leave.

This is a form of bullying.


What can be done about it ?

Red Alert

Are un-notified recordings really admissable - me always heard they were not.

JimmySmith

techtom wrote:

Management in small companies can do what they want.

I know people that were Ignored by managers left doing little / to nothing .
So that they would eventually leave.

This is a form of bullying.


What can be done about it ?

Thats called constructive dismissal and will get the manager a day in court too

DOLEMAN

The ignoring people is such a scummy bullying tactic. A friend of mine who worked in a book shop in Blackrock was ignored by his weird bitch colleague from the first day. What a psycho.

Stark

DOLEMAN wrote:

Other than that, Oracle was a lovely place to work.

Mustn't have been the same Oracle I worked for so

Those two you mentioned sound seriously off the wall though. I don't think I met anyone like that when I was working there. Maybe it's my unmistakable northside (Cork) accent

The poll is too narrowly focused in my opinion. Much of the bullying that goes on in the workplace is the silent type. People may not even realise they're doing it.

leeroybrown

JimmySmith wrote:

Thats called constructive dismissal and will get the manager a day in court too

Unless things have changed constructive dismissals have always been awkward to prove in Irish courts.

JimmySmith

leeroybrown wrote:

Unless things have changed constructive dismissals have always been awkward to prove in Irish courts.

Thats because people dont gather the evidence in advance. You should record conversations. Record yourself asking why you get the sh*t jobs or boring jobs more than anyone else.

Usually it never gets to court if there are recordings involved. The recording gets played at the meeting of solicitors and a settlement is reached.

NewFrockTuesday

The company I work for organises conferences and corporate gigs. Last year was the first time a bullying conference was held for HR Heads and so the psycologist we were using went on TV 3's mornign programme to promote it.

Anyway, he gave out the office number as a contact for getting tickets to it and loads of people thought it was the contact number for councellors.

Wives would come on the phone in bits cos their husband was in John of Gods after a nervous breakdown due to bullying or their child had gone into their shell and lost interest in finding another job or even living or they themselves were on the edge of cracking up. They would just be sobbing and sobbing.

I stayed on the phone with them as much as I could but then had to tell them that this was not the service they needed and re - direct them on to St Michaels or Ringsend.

Awful thing to be on an end where you are helpless. I really wanted to hurt these people who were inflicting such mental pain on those people. Very upsetting.

NewFrockTuesday

posted twice. Apols.

Huggles

Hi. Just wanted to get in on this. I think the options on the poll are for very obvious bullying. Personally I feel that the worst bullting is the psycological kind. I had experience with that in my last job and it wasn't fun.

When I say psychological it is very hard to explai as usually it is expressedly between yourself and the bully (bullies in my case) it was very hard for me to explain to boss what was going on and in the end I just had to leave.

Maybe we can get psychological bullying on the poll? if anyone has experience of what I am trying to describe, please try and word it differently to me as I just made a pigs ear of it LOL

Tizzy

Shouted at / humiliated in front of colleagues ...i deal with this nearly on a daily basis....life at work is tormenting me so much that Im off this week sick...

My boss is older & believes her way is the only way & most times I go along with it ...but she has started shouting at me when I try to have a conversation with somebody if she doesnt agree with what im saying & its extremely embarrassing in front of an office full of people ....im thinking of moving on & have an interview coming up....:(

sticker

Tizzy wrote:

Shouted at / humiliated in front of colleagues ...i deal with this nearly on a daily basis....life at work is tormenting me so much that Im off this week sick...

My boss is older & believes her way is the only way & most times I go along with it ...but she has started shouting at me when I try to have a conversation with somebody if she doesnt agree with what im saying & its extremely embarrassing in front of an office full of people ....im thinking of moving on & have an interview coming up....:(

That sounds really harsh - if you're being bullied to the extent that you need to take a week off sick, I'd take action... see a union rep - if not seek legal advice. Noone should have to experience that level of behavour, espicailly is a modern workplace

Metacortex

I posted this on a different thread last week but heres my experience of it again because i still wish there was something i could have done about it -

About a year ago. I landed my dream job. Or so i thought. I realised very quickly that i had made a terrible mistake taking the job.
I was being trained in by the girl whose job i was taking over, she was leaving after a few months. I noticed straight off she was very wary of asking the boss anything and so was the other girl working there.

I found out very quickly why this was.

The second day there he asked my to call someone on his behalf so i asked him for the phone number. He just freaked out and shouted at me for being stupid as the phone number was taped to the back of the door (first i heard of this).

I started about a week after another guy. The both of us would be berated constantly for being idiots. Despite most of time having done nothing wrong. We both just started and we were learning the ropes so of course we were making small stupid mistakes. Even saving something to the wrong folder would quarantee being screamed at.

The company used these really old servers that would constantly break down and i got no training in what to do if they crashed.
About the third week in, i was there by myself and the servers went down and there was nothing i could do to fix them. And no work could be done while they were down. About half way though the day, i really started to panic.The man was a complete bully.
When he came back, i tried to explain the situation and was told to 'shut the **** up' and i needed to start using my head.

I got home that night and i was a wreck and i broke down crying. I felt sick at the though of going back. And this was only the third week in, that should give you some idea of just how truly awful this man is.

The next day i was just arriving at the door of work when the other guy who started with me walked out saying 'i just quit, he is the biggest wanker ever'.
He then told me that when he quit he was mocked by the employer and told to go home to his mother and cry.
I knew straight away i couldn't go back in there. I rang and said there was no way i was coming back.

I haven't seen that 'man' since and im glad of it.
It was a small company and he owned it so it was basically put up with the bullying or quit. I made the right choice.

To this day that man is the worst human i've ever met. What i've described above isn't even the half of it.
It was only after i left i discovered just how many people had my job in the year before (7) and had quit for the same reason.
My heart genuinely goes out to anyone working for him at the moment.

sticker

I've found that where I work (a factory floor in parts) the biggest annoyance, not so much bullying (but can be intimidating) is the yelping idiot - the MORON that simply repeats a mantra of teenage abuse... there's no articulationg with them, no reasoning - just mouth-pieces who haven't aged a day beyond 12. Some of these guys are in the mid thirties... it's incredible how utterly frustrating it is to work with them!

sticker

Metacortex wrote:

I posted this on a different thread last week but heres my experience of it again because i still wish there was something i could have done about it -

About a year ago. I landed my dream job. Or so i thought. I realised very quickly that i had made a terrible mistake taking the job.
I was being trained in by the girl whose job i was taking over, she was leaving after a few months. I noticed straight off she was very wary of asking the boss anything and so was the other girl working there.

I found out very quickly why this was.

The second day there he asked my to call someone on his behalf so i asked him for the phone number. He just freaked out and shouted at me for being stupid as the phone number was taped to the back of the door (first i heard of this).

I started about a week after another guy. The both of us would be berated constantly for being idiots. Despite most of time having done nothing wrong. We both just started and we were learning the ropes so of course we were making small stupid mistakes. Even saving something to the wrong folder would quarantee being screamed at.

The company used these really old servers that would constantly break down and i got no training in what to do if they crashed.
About the third week in, i was there by myself and the servers went down and there was nothing i could do to fix them. And no work could be done while they were down. About half way though the day, i really started to panic.The man was a complete bully.
When he came back, i tried to explain the situation and was told to 'shut the **** up' and i needed to start using my head.

I got home that night and i was a wreck and i broke down crying. I felt sick at the though of going back. And this was only the third week in, that should give you some idea of just how truly awful this man is.

The next day i was just arriving at the door of work when the other guy who started with me walked out saying 'i just quit, he is the biggest wanker ever'.
He then told me that when he quit he was mocked by the employer and told to go home to his mother and cry.
I knew straight away i couldn't go back in there. I rang and said there was no way i was coming back.

I haven't seen that 'man' since and im glad of it.
It was a small company and he owned it so it was basically put up with the bullying or quit. I made the right choice.

To this day that man is the worst human i've ever met. What i've described above isn't even the half of it.
It was only after i left i discovered just how many people had my job in the year before (7) and had quit for the same reason.
My heart genuinely goes out to anyone working for him at the moment.

He sounds like the nightmare boss alright - it's downright wrong for anyone to have to take abuse like that... The worst thing is you can't but beat yourself up for being the 'victim' When no wrongdoing has occured on your end.

Off topic - Had a look at your deviant art page... Some really nice work.

smallpaws

I was bullied in the form of gossip at the workplace. I worked at a coffeeshop in a mall and a coworker saw that I was freindly with the business owners across the hall and talked with them at the end of they day; they were two men who ran a bookstore. After a few weeks a regular customer came to me,appalled, saying that they had overheard my coworker telling another customer in detail that I was a huge slut who was sleeping with the men at the bookshop! Everyone else at my work (and theirs) knew the two men were a GAY couple, except my idiot gossip "friend" coworker.

I confronted the tw*t immediately, and I got the innocent faced " Oh, I Would never do that!" response till I quoted the person who told me and said they'd back me up on it, and then it was "just a joke".
Loser.
Needless to say, the gossiper went on to do this to several other people at work till ultimately, the boss got fed up and the gossip got fired.
*Thank you Baby Jesus*

Sleepy

I actually voted Never but I'd forgotten about one vindictive little bitch that was the general manager of a hotel in Galway where I worked for a while during college. I don't know if it counts as bullying because she was a cvnt to everyone around her, including our regulars and tbh, I got the last laugh when I finally lost it with her in front of a bar full of regulars and hotel guests. Got a standing ovation on my return to the bar which I was later told that she was 'subtley' informed of by one of my favourite regulars.

The hotel has since closed down. Karma's a bitch

ferry

Huggles wrote: »

Hi. Just wanted to get in on this. I think the options on the poll are for very obvious bullying. Personally I feel that the worst bullting is the psycological kind. I had experience with that in my last job and it wasn't fun.

When I say psychological it is very hard to explai as usually it is expressedly between yourself and the bully (bullies in my case) it was very hard for me to explain to boss what was going on and in the end I just had to leave.

Maybe we can get psychological bullying on the poll? if anyone has experience of what I am trying to describe, please try and word it differently to me as I just made a pigs ear of it LOL

I know exactly what you mean by psychological bullying as I was subjected to it for a few years by my boss. He isolated me from the rest of the workers and made me feel totally incompetent with nasty little criticisms that he only made when I was alone with him. He told me lies about co-workers or things that were going on in the company & then denied them later or told me it was what I chose to hear rather than what he had actually said. He could decide not to talk to me for weeks on end for no reason. He told me that I made him behave the way he did with me. When I reached breaking point & wanted to leave, he then became nice to me for a while but it didnt last. He really messed with my head & I got to the stage where I had no confidence to even attend an interview anywhere else & was snapping at friends & family and crying for no reason. The best thing I ever did was leave that job but it took ages to get to that decision. It sounds like an obvious decision to make but when your confidence has been dented for so long, you begin to feel useless & that it is all your fault. I can see how stupid that sounds now but when you're in the situation it is really hard to see a way out. My advice now to anybody being bullied is to get out of the situation as soon as possible - it never gets better and you are the person who suffers. It is not your fault that you are being bullied no matter what your boss or co-workers implies.