UK: When Firm Management Turns Into Bullying
by Rhian Radia, Hodge Jones & Allen LLP
Manchester United’s glory years owe much to Alex Ferguson’s firm management style. However, kicking footwear directly between the eyes of a star player crosses a line. Does Lord Alan Sugar’s management style though? Lord Sugar probably considers himself merely to be providing an honest critique of a potential apprentice’s performance. He is, in his eyes, one would think, the master of delivering a difficult message.
Communicating unpalatable news to an employee is something generally not done well, and the temptation is to be unlike Lord Sugar and deploy an avoidance technique. But what happens when an employer communicates concerns and then faces a grievance and accusations of bullying? Is this a no-win situation?
There is no statutory definition of bullying. This is important as there appears to be a wide-held belief that bullying is a type of claim to be ticked on the employment tribunal claim form. Harassment is a type of claim but it needs to be linked to a protected characteristic (sex, race, age etc) to qualify as harassment under the Equality Act 2010. Sometimes bullying is not because of any of those things. It is bullying not for a discriminatory reason but because the manager is a bully, nothing more.
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SNP MP Hannah Bardell: I signed non-disclosure agreement after workplace bullying
by ROSS MCCAFFERTY
A Scottish politician has revealed that she had to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) after she experienced bullying in a job she held before entering politics.
Hannah Bardell, MP for Livingston, was appearing on BBC Question Time amid a national discussion on NDAs in the wake of the naming of businessman Sir Philip Green as the person accused by the Daily Telegraph of sexual and racist inappropriate behaviour.
Ms Bardell was asked whether rich and powerful people should be able to use NDAs as a ‘cloak of invisibility’ against claims of harassment.
The SNP representative said that ‘not that long’ before being elected in 2015, she had to sign an NDA after being bullied in a previous job, saying she was put in a ‘difficult position’.
She said: “It’s something I’ve never spoken about, but given I’ve got a voice I feel I should use it. I know a lot of other people who were treated inappropriately.
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Malaysia sixth-worst in global cyber-bullying ladder, survey shows
By Jamny Rosli
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 — Malaysia jumped straight to sixth place in a survey measuring cyberbullying among 28 countries, reaching the ignoble height on its very first attempt.
According to a research by tech compare and reviews site comparitech.com, 23 per cent of Malaysian parents polled believed their child has been a victim of cyberbullying at least once in 2018.
Out of the 28 countries surveyed, Malaysia was ranked the second worst in Asia, better than India (37 per cent) but worse than Saudi Arabia (19 per cent), China (17 per cent), South Korea (13 per cent), and Japan.
“While better connecting the world and democratising information, the internet has also allowed individuals to hide behind masks of anonymity. The ‘faceless evil’ of the internet is a growing threat for teens, specifically when it comes (to) cyberbullying.
“Despite a more recent ramping up of awareness campaigns, cyberbullying facts and statistics indicate the problem is not going away anytime soon,” the firm said in a statement accompanying the results.
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