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Bullying
Last updated February 2024
This chapter explains your legal obligations around bullying and how to deal with bullying in your workplace.
What is bullying?
Bullying is behaviour by a person or group of people that:
- is repeated;
- is unreasonable; and
- creates a risk to health and safety.
Repeated behaviour
For behaviour to be repeated – and therefore able to be considered bullying – it must be more than a one-off occurrence.
There is no specific number of incidents required for the behaviour to be repeated and it does not need to be the same each time. Instead, ‘repeated behaviour’ refers to the persistent nature of the behaviour.
Example
Sam yells at one of his employees during a staff meeting. A week later, he sends an abusive email to the employee. The behaviours are repeated acts of bullying, even though they are not the same kinds of behaviour.
Sam yells at one of his employees during a staff meeting. A week later, he sends an abusive email to the employee. The behaviours are repeated acts of bullying, even though they are not the same kinds of behaviour.