Raising awareness of grievance policies ‘can reduce workplace bullying’

Making staff aware of the grievance policies in place within their organisation can help employers tackle the problem of workplace bullying, it has been suggested.

According to Wendy Parker, north-east area director of the arbitration service Acas, companies may have effective policies and procedures in place but staff may not know about them.

"Workers need to be trained in the implementation of these policies and know what is expected of them," she told nebusiness.

Her comments come after a poll conducted by news provider found that 66.3 per cent of employees in the north-east have experienced bullying at work.

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One respondent to the survey suggested that many employees are too frightened to report bullying to their human resources teams because of the possible repercussions.

A separate report carried out by the Trades Union Congress recently revealed that one in seven British employees have been bullied at work.