Workplace bullying?

[fadedreality]

Hi all,

I have spent a heap of time looking at definitions of workplace bullying but my insistence on giving people the benefit of the doubt means I just don’t know. I do know it is destroying my mental health so it ticks that box.

Before I go any further I have no intention of making an official complaint I only hope to use it to get approval from my boss to apply for other jobs internally (hr requirement and she said no to me last year.)

Another team leader has for a while now taken to coming down laughing really loudly to tell my team leader about every little mistake I make. Her newest response to him when he appears laughing is oh, what now. I hear this and I do not even sit next to her and I have music playing in my headphones all day, every day (I just upgraded to expensive noise cancelling ones so now all I hear is the laughter and I don’t hear the negative chat anymore) so you can imagine what everyone else who sits closer actually hears (a co-worker who had made remarks about having no idea how I work listening to music even started wearing earphones - she sits much closer to her.)

For the record my workplace has a quality target of 95%. I have never dropped below this (mostly 98-100% every week) even though I am the newest person in the team. Actually when I look at the little tracker thing that tracks our every second of the day, my quality is often the best in the team (multiple people below 95% despite some having 10+ years experience) at worst it may drop to the second best in the team. 😱😳🤭 Yes even when I learn something brand new my quality stays consistent - speed drops off, but quality stays.

I unfortunately help his team a lot (all day every day at the moment) and it appears he has his staff reporting to him with every mistake I make (not even one a day) - he would not know about them otherwise. The work I am helping his team with I only got trained in in December last year - the training has proved horrible where some things I just was not trained on at all (and questions seem hugely discouraged here) and other things it appears I was told one thing as fact but I should have been told multiple other things as well. I have recently told this to my team leader where she made some kind of remark about how that is a hard situation to be in.

At no stage am I actually told about the errors so I just get to keep on making them, while he gets to keep on laughing and making fun of my so far away from actually bad work.

Bullying or not?

[fadedreality]

Oh and I forgot to say that sometimes I am at the second last step in the process and I find myself not agreeing with the previous steps and need to go through a process to get the ok to do what should have been done in the first place. Aka what should have actually been done by someone in his team with more seniority than me in the first place. It is only Wednesday and from memory I had to do it at least twice yesterday and once today.

clearly he should be a little more concerned about his own team than me if you ask my opinion.

[white knight]

Hi, welcome

Bullying is a serious issue where ever it occurs. Worse still when it happens in a place you cañnot leave.

I'll leave others to comment specifically on your situation but I have threads you can google below

Beyondblue Topic bullying

Beyondblue Topic only the strongest survive, make it YOU!

TonyWK

[blondguy]

Hello Fadereality

I echo TonyWK's post above where workplace bullying is concerned as its unacceptable

Unfortunately the first place to start is the department you have already approached..Human Resources. A dedicated HR team should have a 'duty of care' to you... the employee....not only to management

I understand it may seem futile, yet communicating with Human Resources in writing (official email/intranet) is the best way to approach this situation. You are not 'dobbing in' your supervisor. You are expressing your concerns which is your right as an employee. If possible keep your key points brief and factual as possible

You mentioned this is having a profound effect on your mental health. You are more than welcome to talk about that if you wish 🙂 I understand you after working in corporate for 35 years

The forums are a safe and non judgemental place for you to post Fadereality. Your well being and privacy are paramount on the forums

You are always welcome to post back if and when you wish

you are not alone

Paul

[Guest_365]

Hi there

Bullying is consistent and repeated behaviour. You can google an exact definition from SafeWork website.

Your supervisor has a duty to inform you of any errors you make and provide sufficient support and training to rectify these if evident. Do you have performance reviews or discussions? If not I'd ask for one and get it all documented. If there's no errors then get that documented to. Be proactive and request a meeting framing as you'd like to improve your performance and after feedback in a formal setting.

[Angelinurpocket]

I have read with interest all the aforementioned post. I have but 1 question, where can an employee go when they are systematically being bullied by a senior HR advisor who has now been elevated to HR manager. I went numerous times to my manager and was advised that everyone knows they are a bully and nothing is going to change. So in the interest of my managers self preservation within the organisation I was asked not to raise it again. I ended up resigning after 6 months of this treatment with no support from managers further up the line. I am now finding this bullying to be continued outside the organisation and am now unsure where I stand.

[blondguy]

Hi Angelinurpocket

Welcome to the forums and great to have you with us too!

You question is an excellent one.

You didnt have success with the usual protocols (just as per my experience) as your HR department's loyalty is misdirected to appease the organizations management

Being bullied (in any shape or form) after resigning is a disgrace. I have experienced this with an employer when they were providing telephone references that prevented me from being successful in applying for a position with a new company

I am sorry that you are experiencing the same issues after providing your resignation...Can I ask how they are making your life difficult?

The forums are a safe and non judgemental place for you to post Angelinurpocket. Your privacy is paramount to Beyond Blue and the forums

my kind thoughts and please do reply if you wish 🙂

Paul

[Angelinurpocket]

Hi Paul

Thankyou got the welcome, it took a long time to get to the point of being ablation conciously admit the bullying and hence a long time to end up finding a forum such as this.

The actions they are taking now are similar to yours, but they are going to organisations in order to advertise the position and making absolutely false claims about why I resigned.

consequently going to other agencies, Is out of the question for me because I now end up second guessing myself and wondering if they know... I know rationally that they cannot know and that as I have worked with many before and they know my work practices that it’s not an issue but just making that step turns an otherwise rational person into a quivering mess. During the last 6 months I would drive home slowly in tears so no one at home knew that a middle aged person was being driven to tears and I tried many times to get appointments with the director of HR but unless you give a reason nothing was entertained.

sorry for dribbling on but I am at a point where I just don’t know how to get through this.