What counts as workplace bullying
Acas defines bullying at work as unwanted behaviour from a person or a group that is either offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting, or an abuse of power that undermines, humiliates or injures the person on the receiving end. There is no single legal definition of bullying in the UK, which is part of why it goes unchallenged for so long.
Three things usually separate bullying from an ordinary bad day at work: it repeats, it targets a particular person, and it leaves that person with less power, less standing or less confidence than they had before. Intention is not the test. Acas is explicit that the effect on you matters more than what the other person meant.
UK workers experienced conflict or abuse at work in the last year
CIPD Good Work Index, 2024
of UK workers say they were undermined or humiliated at work in the last year
CIPD Good Work Index, 2024
of people bullied at work ever formally report it
Acas
estimated annual cost of workplace conflict to UK employers
Acas, 2021
Twenty five examples of workplace bullying
These are drawn from the situations people describe most often. You do not need to recognise all of them. Most people recognise a cluster from one or two groups.
Undermining your work
The most common pattern, and the easiest to dress up as high standards.
- 01
Persistent unfair criticism
Your work is picked apart in a way nobody else's is, often over things that were never asked for.
- 02
Setting you up to fail
Deadlines nobody could meet, then a paper trail about missed deadlines.
- 03
Moving the goalposts
The brief changes after you deliver, and the new version is presented as what was always asked for.
- 04
Withholding information
You find out about the decision, the client change or the meeting after everyone else.
- 05
Taking credit for your work
Your analysis appears in someone else's deck, with your name nowhere on it.
Humiliation in front of others
The visible kind. Often the only kind colleagues will later admit they saw.
- 06
Public dressing down
Being corrected loudly in an open plan office or on a call with twelve people on it.
- 07
Shouting and verbal aggression
Raised voice, swearing directed at you, or slamming things down to make a point.
- 08
Belittling jokes and nicknames
A running joke about your accent, your age, your speed or your competence, defended as banter.
- 09
Mimicry and mockery
Your speech, your hesitation or your appearance imitated for laughs.
- 10
Intimidating body language
Standing over your desk, blocking a doorway, or the deliberate silent stare.
Exclusion and isolation
The hardest to evidence, and the one people most often talk themselves out of naming.
- 11
Left out of meetings you need
Decisions about your own work made in rooms you are not invited to.
- 12
Social freezing out
Conversation stops when you arrive, and lunch plans are made around you.
- 13
Rumour and character briefing
You discover that people have been told you are difficult, fragile or not coping.
- 14
Cut out of decisions
Your remit is quietly reassigned without any conversation.
- 15
Physical isolation
Moved to a desk away from your team, or given shifts that separate you from allies.
Misuse of the system
Bullying carried out through legitimate processes, which is why it can survive an HR review.
- 16
Overloading you with work
Volume that could not be delivered by anyone, allocated only to you.
- 17
Removing meaningful work
Stripped back to tasks well below your grade, with no explanation.
- 18
Unreasonable monitoring
Timed breaks, checked keystrokes or demands to account for every hour, applied to you alone.
- 19
Blocking leave, training or promotion
Requests refused without reason while colleagues' are approved.
- 20
Sudden shift or rota changes
Your pattern changed at short notice in ways that are hard to manage and never explained.
Denial and retaliation
What often begins once you start to push back. This group escalates fastest.
- 21
Denying what happened
Being told the meeting went differently, or that you are remembering it wrong. Often called gaslighting.
- 22
Rewriting agreed decisions
A verbal agreement disappears, and the written record says something else.
- 23
Punishment for raising a concern
Cold treatment, a sudden performance process, or lost opportunities after you spoke up.
- 24
Threats about your job
Comments about how easily you could be replaced, or hints about the next restructure.
- 25
Out of hours pile ons
Messages late at night and at weekends, with irritation if you do not reply immediately.
What is not workplace bullying
This matters, because being clear about the line makes your case stronger, not weaker. A manager is entitled to manage. The following are generally not bullying, even when they feel uncomfortable:
- Reasonable, evidenced feedback about your work, delivered privately and consistently.
- A fair performance or capability process that follows the organisation's own policy.
- Legitimate changes to duties or structure that apply across a team, not only to you.
- A one off disagreement, or a colleague being short with you on a difficult day.
- Being told no.
The tell is usually consistency. Ask yourself whether the same standard, tone and process is applied to everyone else in your role. If the answer is no, and it repeats, you are no longer describing management.
Why the pattern matters more than any single incident
Almost every person who describes workplace bullying says the same thing: each individual event sounds petty when you say it out loud. That is not an accident. Behaviour that survives inside an organisation tends to be behaviour that is deniable one incident at a time.
The pattern is the evidence. Fifteen small entries with dates, times, witnesses and effects tells a story that no single entry can. It is also what an employer, a union representative or an employment tribunal will actually look at. Start the record before you are sure you need it.
What to do next
- Write down every incident you can still remember, with the date, who was there and what it changed for you.
- Keep the record somewhere personal, not on a work device or work account.
- Add new entries within twenty four hours, while the detail is still exact.
- Note the effect on your work and health, not just the behaviour, because that is what makes impact visible.
- Read the whole record back after a month. Patterns are almost never visible from inside a single week.
Where to go from here
If the behaviour is coming from your manager, the route to raising it is different, because the person you would normally report to is the problem. If it is a peer, the bystander question becomes the important one. Both are covered in the guides below, along with your legal position in the UK.
You are also not obliged to work this out alone. HeartBrain is building a free, anonymous community of people who have been where you are, alongside a resource library and access to vetted employment lawyers, counsellors and coaches.
Prefer to read this offline? Get The HeartBrain Workplace Bullying Handbook emailed to you free.
Common questions
What is the most common form of workplace bullying?
Undermining is the most commonly reported form: being set up to fail with impossible deadlines, having work criticised in ways that shift each time, or being denied the information needed to do the job. It is common because it is easy to defend as management, which is exactly why it is so hard to challenge.
Is being shouted at once workplace bullying?
A single outburst is usually treated as unacceptable conduct rather than bullying, because bullying is defined by repetition. That said, one incident can be serious enough to warrant a formal complaint on its own, particularly if it involved threats, humiliation in front of others or physical intimidation.
Is exclusion a form of bullying?
Yes. Being routinely left off invitations, kept out of meetings you need to attend, or frozen out of conversations is recognised by Acas as bullying behaviour. It is often called social undermining, and it is harder to evidence than shouting, which is precisely why it is used.
How do I prove workplace bullying?
Keep a dated record of each incident with what happened, who was present and what the effect was, written as close to the time as possible. Save emails and messages to a personal account. Individually each entry can look small; a dated sequence is what makes the pattern visible to an employer or a tribunal.
Can workplace bullying be unintentional?
Yes, and it frequently is. Acas is clear that the impact on the person receiving the behaviour matters more than the intention behind it. A manager who genuinely believes they are being direct can still be creating a bullying environment.
HeartBrain
A community for people being bullied at work
HeartBrain is a free, anonymous community and resource library for anyone affected by workplace bullying and harassment, plus a culture questionnaire for organisations serious about fixing it. We are opening soon.
If you are struggling right now, you do not have to wait for us. In the UK, Samaritans are free on 116 123, day or night. Acas offer free workplace advice on 0300 123 1100.
Keep reading
Back to all guidesWhen the person bullying you is your manager
The power imbalance changes everything. Here is how to handle it without losing your footing.
When it is a peer, not a boss
Peer bullying is the most under reported kind. It is also the most survivable with the right people around you.
Signs of a toxic work environment
Twelve signs, scored. Find out whether it is a bad week or a broken culture.
Workplace bullying in the UK: your rights, explained plainly
The honest legal position, including the bit most articles get wrong.