Bullying in the workplace

I was going to write the next part of the job seeking saga but I read something today that made me incandescent!

The cover story in the Sydney Morning Herald was about women who bully other women in the workplace. It is an unsurprising article by Kath Lockett but still very disappointing.

Bullying in the workplace makes me really angry. I know my response to this is not just because it is plain old fashioned wrong but also because I have been subjected to it myself and I know the impact of it on the victim...and make no bones about it ..that is exactly what you are.

When you are the chosen subject of the bully you start to think that you must be stupid or incompetent or lazy or anythign they try to throw at you - you start to believe this even though there is so much evidence to the contrary.

Using myself for example - I have worked for many years in universities throughout the UK and Australia. I have been asked to stay on when I resigned, I have had letters of appreciation from various management boards, I have worked long hours willingly and enthusiastically and most of all I know the ropes. But then some new manager comes along (often a woman I regret to say) and decides you are not the person she wants in that job(often she wants to bring in her own staff) so suddenly you are loaded with extra work - you are being checked up on and those people you interact with are asked to report back to the manager on all your work, you are marginalised and kept from meetings, you are ignored in meetings, you are called in to private meetings and told how incompetent you are and the pressure to make life unpleasant for you is increased daily until you are a nervous wreck and really can't cope. In my case I went to the doctor who told me that this is a straight forward case of bullying and to lodge a workcover certificate. Her support was vital to me. I had felt isolated until this doctor made me look at what was going on.

But here is where the system fails the individual - first of all the workcover officer in the university is paid by the university and represents the university which is my case is self insured. So, it comes as no surprise to know that the role she/he has to undertake is to look after the university (or their employer). So you are being forced to attend ridiculous pyschiatric testing and the implication is that you are a trouble maker and causing issues, you are forced to give lengthy statements in front of external legal staff - remember all this is when you are on workrelated stress leave anyway.

So who do you go to? I tried the union as I have been a union member for 30 years they were the logical first step. That was a mistake - when you work in a university the unions have little staff and those industrial officers that are allocated are often not interested in the individual but are more interested in the enterprise bargaining tole they have. In my case the industrial officer failed to be available for meetings, she never called me back despite 3 calls and 2 visits to the office ALL at a time when I had been notified that I was to be terminated. I never got support from the union and I now advise everyone to forget joining the union in this sector....and this is from someone who was a union officer for many years. (In my case my industrial officer didn't actually start work until 10am at the earliest in a university where most staff starts at 8.30am. the reason given was because she lived too far away. As a paid up member I feel there is a big question there about recruiting a paid staff member who lives too far away to do her job)

Whilst I had a lot of support from people I had worked for prior to this new head of school arriving and they were willing to speak up for me. My own staff that had reported to me were very happy to speak up also. The pressure that I was put under by the university made it just too hard and too stressful. I was even told by the workcover officer that my previous boss had not supported me - that was an outright porky pie.

For all Julia Gillard's good intentions there is no happy ending for those who are bullied at work unless they have enough money to employ expensive solicitors..

Incidentally I was told that as a union member I was entitled to a free meeting with a union solicitor -I needed this because I had no idea of my rights regarding the termination. Despite my requesting either the name of the solicitor so that I could make an appointment or the appointment time I was NEVER given the information and the time that I could take action passed. Once again I stress - forget joining a union now - they either dont have the resources or they dont have the staff to be effective and it is best not to have expectations of assistance rather than feel the disappointment of the lack of support when you have paid your union fees.