Know Your Rights: Workplace Bullying
- Facing bullying at work?
- Understand your legal rights.
- Learn how to document incidents properly, and how to take action to stop it.
Everyone deserves to feel safe and respected at work. Here’s what you need to know about bullying—and what you can do about it.
What is workplace bullying?
Under the Fair Work Act, bullying is repeated unreasonable behaviour directed at you or your workmates that creates a risk to health and safety.
Bullying can include:
- Shouting, threats, or aggressive/intimidating behaviour
- Teasing, playing practical jokes, humiliation, or mocking
- Being singled out, excluded, or ganged up on
- Physical or emotional abuse
- Unreasonable demands or workload
- Being deliberately made to feel uncomfortable
- Excessive surveillance or micromanagement
- Pressuring someone to behave inappropriately
- Holding ‘initiation ceremonies’
Important: Bullying can happen during work hours or outside of them—like at work social events or on group chats.
What’s NOT bullying?
Your manager is allowed to manage your work and take reasonable management action. This can include:
- Giving you performance feedback or putting you on a performance improvement plan
- Making decisions about poor performance
- Providing reasonable instructions about your work
- Directing/controlling the way work is carried out
- Offering constructive criticism
- Investigating workplace issues
- Taking disciplinary action
BUT these actions can become bullying if they are unreasonable or they are done in an unreasonable, threatening, or humiliating way.
It’s also normal to have occasional disagreements at work. However, if conflicts repeatedly target or victimise you or your workmates, that could cross the line into bullying.
How bullying affect you
Being bullied at work can:
- Make you feel less confident and more stressed
- Affect your ability to do your job
- Impact your personal life and your health—e.g. making you anxious, irritable, or dreading going to work
You’re not alone, and there are things you can do about it.
What you can do
1. Write it down
Start keeping a record of incidents as they happen. This can be crucial evidence later on, especially since details fade over time.
Record:
- Date and time of the incident
- What happened before and after
- Where it took place
- Who was involved and who witnessed it
- Exactly what was said or done
- Why you feel it was bullying
- How it made you feel
2. Tell someone you trust
Talk to:
- A workmate you’re close to, a friend or health professional
- Your Health and Safety Representative
- Your union delegate or organiser
Your union can give you advice and support through the whole process.
3. Approach the person (if you feel safe)
If you feel confident and safe doing so, you can tell the bully their behaviour is unacceptable and needs to stop.
Don’t do this if it could put you in danger. Get advice from your union first.
4. Make an internal complaint
If the behaviour continues or you don’t feel comfortable confronting the person, make a formal complaint to your manager, or follow relevant internal processes to try to resolve the matter in the workplace. Only do this if you feel safe to do so — you don’t have to speak to the person or talk to anyone else about what happened before going elsewhere.
If your manager is the problem, talk to your Health and Safety Representative, union delegate, or contact the Australian Unions Support Centre to find out who else you can report to.
Remember: Your employer has a legal responsibility to provide a safe workplace free from bullying.
5. Make an external complaint
If your workplace doesn’t fix the problem or you don’t feel safe reporting it internally, you have other options:
- Contact your union for assistance and representation
- Apply to the Fair Work Commission for a stop bullying order under the Fair Work Act (not all workers are eligible to apply). The FWC can make orders to prevent you from being bullied at work if it is satisfied that you have been bullied, and there is a risk that you will continue to be.
Your union can help you navigate this process and represent you.
Need help right now?
- If you’re in immediate danger, call 000
- Contact your union for advice and support
Why join a union?
When you’re facing bullying, having union support means:
- Expert advice on your rights
- Someone to help you document incidents properly
- Representation in meetings and complaints
- Support through Fair Work processes
- You don’t have to face it alone
Your union has your back.
Are you already a union member?
When it comes to workplace rights, unions are the experts. Reach out to your union for more specific information about how you and your workmates can make the most about your rights at work.
Not yet a member?
Joining your union is the most powerful decision you can make to protect your rights at work.