October 8
What can you do when you are accused of bullying at work?
The first thing to do is get over the shock and unbelieve. You never intended to bully someone else. You feel anguish but you must deal with the problem and the person making the allegations. Firstly get the emotions out of the way, yours and that of the accusing person. Now use your intellect and reason to work out what happened. Then use your intuition or creativity on how to solve the problem. This E-R-I model of Gini Graham Scott, PH.D is set out in this book and it is a very good read:
Under “Reason” she is giving the following examples:
- “Different needs, interests or values
- Lack of information or wrong assumptions
- Problems around power, control and responsibility
- Difficult people and personality clashes
- Lack of trust
She then applies the five conflict styles and which ones to apply.
As far as intuition is concerned she recommends:
- Better understanding of your self and what’s going on
- Come up with possibilities and chose what to do”
- Now after you have considered the above, let your employer know what needs are unmet. Give your employer a reasonable time to put steps in place to overcome the problems. If your emotional problems are at the stage when you know you are being bullied, you still have choices.
- Speak to us to help guide you in with your choices and after that contact Human Resources.
- Get a representative of your Union involved, someone not working for your company.
- You can refer yourself to an Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) if your employer has an agreement with EAP. You should be able to find one close to you. This is a free service to you.
- Even though you are following these guidelines the other party could still be unreasonable. If this is the case you must act. You have to choose the outcome you want, this is very important. Our workshops have more information in this regard.
- Contact Worksafe NZ and report the bullying at 0800 030 040. Expect to be very unpopular at work if you chose this option.
- If your employer agrees you could ask for mediation. You could use the mediation services of The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Education.
Tip
- In our experience the Union representative is only going with you to be your support person. They will not read your documents or give you any input.
- They will be with you on the day but it is possible that they won’t say a word when you meet with the employer.
- Make sure your solicitor is experienced in employment law before you give instructions to be represented. Your solicitor will represent you and speak on your behalf should you go to court.
- At mediation, a mediator could exclude your solicitor from the mediation proceedings and you will still have to pay their fee for the day, even if they sit outside the room.
- Therefore it is important that you are so well prepared that if need be you could drive the matter to an acceptable conclusion.