A former executive assistant who was horrifically targeted at work over her incurable autoimmune condition has launched a campaign to introduce a UK anti-bullying law.
Skevi Constantinou says she cannot believe such a law doesn’t already exist and has organised a petition to the government which has now gone live.
It comes amid reports that there have been a record number of bullying claims resulting in lawsuits at UK employment courts over the past year. Bullying was also recognised as the most common form of misconduct in the UK, with over a quarter of workers having experienced this at some point in their career.
Despite this, workplace bullying is not recognised as a crime in any UK law. Some bullying behaviour may be covered by other legislation, for example on the grounds of race, gender or sexuality, but there are no penalties for bullying in itself.
Skevi, 36, who is from Wolverhampton and now lives near Birmingham, said: “This is not enough. There is currently no UK law that specifically protects employees against bullying in the workplace. There are other countries around the world where it is illegal to bully someone in the workplace. There should also be penalties in the UK for this unkind behaviour.”
Skevi said she wanted to see the UK follow the example of other countries like Sweden, which is one of the few countries in the world with laws that specifically prohibit bullying in the workplace. The law there requires that employers swiftly investigate and counter any instances of bullying. Offences can be punishable by fines or even imprisonment.
TUC figures show that nearly a third of people (29%) have been bullied at work with more than one in three (36 per cent) leaving their job because of it. Research by employment and partnership law specialists Fox & Partners, reveals the number of cases heard by the Employment Tribunal which contain allegations of bullying has increased 44% from 581 in 2020/21 to a record high of 835 in 2021/22.
Skevi said introducing penalties in the UK would be a big deterrent and could stop this number rising further.
She said: “We are trying first and foremost to deter bullying in the workplace. If these bullies persist after a law is introduced, they should be held accountable and future employers MUST have access to this information before interview stage. They are trying to ruin lives – bullies should stop and think. Everyone has the right to go to work to earn a living without the fear of being bullied.”
Skevi, who was once told she didn’t deserve a promotion because ‘she would die soon anyway’ due to an incurable underlying autoimmune condition, has made it her mission to offer support.
She revealed other examples of the relentless bullying she experienced at work included being asked to produce evidence of her illness to justify having a car parking space after a colleague called for it to be revoked because she ‘could not see her illness’; being coughed and sneezed at; being shouted at for using a disabled toilet and being racially abused after being overheard talking to her mum on the phone in Greek.
She said when she raised the issues, she was told to ‘ring the company hotline because it’s all in your head and you are being sensitive’.
“After my own experiences with horrific bullying in the workplace, nothing was done,” she said.
“Bullying was occurring for many years in my career and it impacted me to the point where I felt so scared to go to work. I would be sick in the morning and even on the car drive where I would have to pull over. The fear was overwhelming.
“I was so scared to speak up and would endure in silence, which had a huge impact on my physical and mental health. Every evening I would go home and cry. It started to impact my performance at work and the bullying got worse. I would have trash cans emptied on my desk with Post It notes saying “will the germs kill you?” because they knew I was immune suppressed.
“It got to the point where things got so bad, I opted in for voluntary redundancy when the opportunity arose because I had reached breaking point.
“We all deserve to go to work and be respected in a safe environment. Whilst my own experiences have shaped me in many ways, I want to help others as best as possible.”
Skevi has recently teamed up with The Diana Award, a charity combating bullying in education. Created in the name of the late Princess Diana of Wales, the organisation has mentoring programmes and resources to help raise awareness of being kind and not to bully in schools. The Diana Award in turn is supporting Skevi’s petition.
Skevi is a multi-award-winning businesswoman, having founded The PA Way (www.thepaway.co.uk) a worldwide support group, dubbed the ‘Assistanthood’ by its members.
As a former West Midlands executive assistant who took voluntary redundancy, she is now helping hundreds of key business support staff overcome feeling ‘invisible and alone.’
“This affects millions of people, not just in the UK but globally. My mission will always be to support those who are being bullied or have been bullied as I want to give them a voice and realise that they are not alone and they haven’t done anything wrong. It’s so important that these people are represented and not made to feel that this is normal – to go to work and be treated that way. Bullies need to be stopped in the workplace,” she said.
“I want people to be inspired to find their voice, to give them courage to speak up and realise that they are not alone. That they do not deserve to be mistreated because of bullies at work. It may give them comfort and protection, knowing that it could be illegal to bully someone in the workplace with repercussions. Bullies are getting away with doing this to people in the workplace because there is nothing to stop them. There have been absolute tragedies both in education and the workplace because people felt they couldn’t cope anymore. This has to stop.
“Employers should be more accountable. Bullies need to think about their actions as there is no need to bully someone in the workplace. If there is a pressing issue, this can be discussed maturely. It may give someone comfort to those being bullied that when they do speak up, action may be taken and that they are safe to continue to work.
“My aim is to see a UK law in place with a full manifesto that employees must abide to so that bullying is not permitted and becomes illegal in the workplace.”
Skevi’s petition to establish a UK anti-workplace bullying law can be signed here: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/623087
