How to tell if bullying is illegal
Content / trigger warning
Being bullied at work is awful, but is it also illegal?
So there are two main ways that bullying can be illegal, and this is important to know if your employer isn't taking it seriously and you want to get them to make it stop.
The first way bullying could be illegal is if you're essentially being forced out of your job. That's called constructive dismissal. And that's a right that you have after two years of employment here in the UK. And the way that would work is you resign because you say, I literally cannot work here any longer because of the situation that I have been put in by this bullying.
The other way is that the bullying relates to a protected characteristic, like age, race and religion, etc. So if you're being bullied because of that protected characteristic, that's what's legally called harassment. That's a day one right. It starts from your first day of employment. So if you can apply a legal label, hopefully you can amp up the pressure to get it resolved.
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