20.02.2025 | News
Only two per cent of respondents said they had been accused of workplace bullying. Three per cent of supervisors reported that a member of their team had accused them of bullying, and six per cent of supervisors reported being bullied by a team member.
Workplace bullying is one of the most difficult topics that the Employment law unit encounters, and questions related to this topic are frequently raised. The topic is difficult because problems in the work community are often complex, and the parties involved are not always clearly good or bad. Whether something constitutes workplace bullying or not is often a line drawn on water. Even if it is a clear case of bullying, it may not be easy to resolve, for example, due to difficulties providing evidence and the fact that the range of measures may be limited.
Workplace bullying can take the form of, for example, unjustified criticism, exclusion, belittling or shouting. It is not a question of workplace bullying, however, when a supervisor is exercising their right to direct, giving an appropriate warning or notice, addressing problems in the work community or changing work tasks in a manner that is in line with the Employment Contracts Act. Among these alternatives, there are still many frustrating behaviours that are not always necessarily workplace bullying – such as breaking common ground rules, neglecting work, blaming others or excessive outbursts of emotion.
The nature of workplace bullying inherently involves repeated and long-term negative treatment. An occasional episode of poor treatment is not considered bullying, but if it continues over a longer period of time, it can evolve into workplace bullying.
In many cases, the observed and experienced workplace bullying of our members appeared in the form of unjustified or inappropriate criticism. For example, some reported incidences involving criticism or public embarrassment, sometimes even with offensive nicknames, under the guise of humour. Public bullying took place both verbally and through mass emails. Cases in which professional competence was undermined or underestimated were also unfortunately common. Opinions were inappropriately questioned, and the amount of work done and workload strain was dismissed or disregarded.
Workplace bullying can also take the form of work assignments that are too trivial or too minimal, which our members have also experienced. Failure to invite individuals to relevant meetings or the arrangement of meetings at inappropriate times can also be considered bullying, as well as excluding someone unjustly from decision-making and the receipt of information. Such behaviour may also include other forms of isolation, such as exclusion from a lunch group or joint coffee table discussions. A member of the work community may also find themselves excluded because they differ from others in some way due to, for example, a special diet or the fact that they don’t drink. All of these behaviours had been mentioned by members who responded to the survey.
Some reported workplace bullying also met the criteria for discrimination. Women had experienced being belittled, ignored and shown contempt because of their sex. For example, their questions were not answered directly but through a male colleague. For some events that team members had been invited to, it had been made quite clear that they did not apply to women. Women who raised an issue were labelled as difficult. In addition, many cases of age discrimination were reported on a general level, but no further details were provided.
Violations of equal treatment were often also viewed as workplace bullying. For example, some personnel had to obtain a medical certificate for sick leave and others did not, the amount of remote work done by some was monitored and for others not, and in addition, annual leaves were granted unequally.
We did not ask about sexual harassment separately this time, but it was also reported to some extent (read the results of a survey by Akava affiliates on sexual harassment.
The workplace bullying of a team member by their own supervisor is another thing entirely. Generally speaking, a workplace bully is not necessarily higher in the workplace hierarchy than the individual being bullied; rather bullying is affected more by personality conflicts and workplace culture than by position or status. However, supervisors may sometimes also abuse their position of power, thereby making them guilty of bullying. It is worth remembering, however, that the strict use of the right to direct is not considering bullying if does not involve repeated and inappropriate behaviour or unequal treatment. Not all supervisors are good and modern leaders, but between the great ones and the bullies, there are still many degrees of less skilled and less empathetic leaders who would still not be considered bullies.
Of the forms of bullying mentioned above, some specifically involved a supervisor bullying their team member by, for example, presenting unjustified criticism and belittling. Some also reported being on the receiving end of excessive pressure to perform at work, as well as shouting and threatening.
Supervisors also reported having unfounded allegations of bullying brought against them. Unfounded allegations of bullying were reported, for example, in situations where a team member had tried to blame their supervisor for their own underachievement. The team member had refused instructions and the supervisor had interpreted this refusal as a form of bullying against themselves. The intervention of a supervisor in inappropriate behaviour presented by a team member had also been reported as bullying, as had a supervisor's request for one employee to help a co-worker in a work task.
There were also situations in which a team member had bullied their supervisor. Generally speaking, these situations were also similar to those described above and involved allegations of bullying from both sides. The team member may have been very resistant to normal work management and considered it bullying, which, in turn, had made the supervisor feel bullied. This is also why it is important, when discussing issues, to try to clarify when an issue genuinely involves bullying and when the claim of bullying is only being used for the purpose of offending another person or defending one’s own negligence.
As a member of ASIA, if you suspect that you are the subject of workplace bullying and inappropriate treatment, you can always call the lawyers at ASIA and discuss the matter. Please check also the information on the ASIA employment law website.
Text: Sirpa Leppäluoto, Labour Market Director at ASIA
The article has been published on the ASIA membership magazine 1/2025
Webinar 5.3.2025: The Basics of Finnish Labor Law. In the webinar, ASIA labor market lawyer Mikko Leirimaa will be speaking Age discrimination in recruitment from a legal perspective Finding a balance in the workplace between in-office and remote work