Autism Adult Life: Bullying in the workplace
This section explains what bullying is, how to recognise if you are being bullied, ways to help you if you are being bullied and where you can go for support. It also aims to help you at work, with tips on how to interact and cope in the workplace.
Bullying is similar to harassment. It is when one person, or a group of people, intentionally cause harm to someone else and behave in a way that is deliberately offensive and unkind towards them. For example, a bully might make jokes about an individual's disability, or make rude remarks about someone's sexual orientation.
A person could be bullying in the way they speak to you, in their words and their manner (for example, verbal harassment) and the things that they do to you (for example, physical assault). They may also be a bully in other more subtle ways, such as forcing or manipulating you to do things, leaving you out of activities, or saying unkind words about you when you are not there.
No-one should have to put up with being bullied at work. Everyone should instead be treated with dignity and respect. Bullying or harassment should not be tolerated. Your employer is responsible for preventing bullying and harassing behaviour. They should have measures in place to prevent bullying, and have grievance procedures to give help and support if you are being bullied.
People tend to describe bullying in two ways: direct bullying and indirect bullying. Sometimes it can be easier to recognise if a person is bullying you directly, but even direct bullying can be hard to interpret.
Examples of direct bullying could be:
jokes or remarks about your disability
insulting you in what they are saying to you or the way they are behaving towards you
overbearing supervision or other misuse of power or position
unwelcome sexual advances - this could be touching you, or standing too close to you while showing or displaying something that you find offensive
humiliating you in front of other colleagues
It can be more difficult to tell if you are being bullied if the bullying is indirect or underhand.
Examples of indirect bullying can be:
not being put forward for training or promotion
persistently criticising your performance
setting you tasks or deadlines that you are never going to be able to meet
leaving you out or not inviting you to team social events
spreading malicious rumours about you
making uncalled for comments about your job security when you have been working perfectly satisfactorily; for example, saying that the last person who did your job was fired for not doing the job correctly.
Bullying might not just be done face-to-face - it could happen in emails or other written documents to you, over the phone, or by being unfairly monitored for something when none of your colleagues are being singled out for the same kind of treatment. This means you are being supervised in a way that no-one else is, so you are being treated differently.
What should I do if I think I'm being bullied?
If you think you are being bullied, try to talk to someone about what has been happening. This could be someone you trust at work, or someone you see outside work. Sometimes, it can be hard to tell if someone is being kind or if someone is being cruel.
Behaviour that seems like bullying might not be, so it would be a good idea to talk it through and give examples to someone else in order to get their opinion. One good place to be able to talk about this could be at an social group for autistic people.
There are a number of specialist employment organisations who have helplines you can speak to if you think you are being bullied, and their details are listed at the end of this information.
If you feel comfortable doing so, talk to other colleagues at work to see if anyone else feels they are being bullied or if they have seen you being bullied. It may be that the bully is targeting other people too. It is important that you do not try to cope on your own - there are other people who will be able to help you and offer support.
You should keep a diary with a clear description of what happened with the bullying. Sometimes events in isolation may look trivial, but looking at them all together shows the true effect of them. Having recorded evidence will always be helpful if you need to take things further.
Good things to note in this diary would be:
if anybody else did or said anything
If you are a member of a union and there is a union safety representative where you work, you could arrange a meeting to tell them what is happening. You can talk to your union representative in complete confidence and they can offer you advice and support.
This support could mean they talk to the bully themselves to try and resolve the problem, or they might provide you with support if you decide to make a formal complaint. This support should continue throughout the procedure.