At a workplace level there are a range of strategies that you can use to hopefully manage and better deal with bullying. These can include:
- Seeking medical assistance, reporting any symptoms like stress or anxiety and gaining treatment to assist in coping with these symptoms;
- Ensuring that you are as informed as possible about the bullying and complaint making policies and procedures in your workplace;
- Keep records and carefully document all of the instances of bullying. Here, it is important to note down dates, times, actions and the particular people that may have witnessed the bullying taking place. You should also carefully record how you reacted to the bullying, how you tried to stop it and how it made you feel;
- Escalate the issue at the workplace level. Here, it is important to carefully follow the particular complaint or dispute resolution processes that your workplace uses. This could involve reporting the bullying to a supervisor or manager, a health and safety officer or the human resources department; and
- Getting help: If the bullying is violent, overly aggressive or threatening it may be a criminal act and you should call the police on 000;
- Getting help: If the bullying involves discrimination according to your race, sex, sexual orientation, age, disability, religion, political views or pregnancy you can call the Australian Human Rights Commission on 1300 656 419; or
- Getting help: The Commonwealth Fair Work Ombudsman can also provide you with a great deal of information about workplace rights and protections for workers on 131 394.