What Is Workplace Bullying?
Workplace bullying is not a personality clash or a bad day.
The academic consensus defines it as repeated negative acts over time, where there is an actual or perceived power imbalance, causing harm to the target's psychological, social, or occupational wellbeing.
One incident is not bullying.
A pattern is.
In the UK, ACAS (2022) defines it as unwanted behaviour that is offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting, representing an abuse or misuse of power that undermines, humiliates, or causes physical or emotional harm.
The law does not define bullying specifically, but the Equality Act 2010 applies where the conduct relates to a protected characteristic.
The UK Civil Service People Survey covering more than 350,000 respondents, found that approximately 7.5% reported experiencing workplace bullying in 2024.
These figures are almost certainly an undercount: research shows that people are significantly less likely to identify their own experience as bullying when given a formal definition than when asked about specific behaviours they have encountered.
The label carries weight, and people resist it, especially those in senior roles.
Three forms of workplace bullying are documented in the research literature:
- Downward Bullying - from manager to subordinate
- Horizontal Bullying - between peers
- Upward Bullying - from subordinate to manager
Most organisational policy, training, and HR practice is designed around the first form only.