Dominic Raab, in his resignation statement, preferred to call it “direct critical feedback” and the “pace, standards and challenge” that he brought to his departments. His allies had previously defended him as someone who simply “expects people to be on their brief and puts them on the spot”.
But in his report, Adam Tolley KC found that at times the politician had gone beyond merely demanding high standards of his staff, including instances in which he was “intimidating” or acted in a way that was “unreasonably and persistently aggressive”.
So where does the line between “robustness” and bullying lie? While some conduct is very obviously unacceptable, experts acknowledge it is not always easy to judge when firm management crosses that line.
The ministerial code, which governs how senior politicians must behave, says they must “treat all those with whom they come into contact with consideration and respect … Harassing, bullying or other inappropriate or discriminatory behaviour … will not be tolerated.”
For the purposes of his investigation, Tolley said he relied on a previous case that found bullying could be defined as “offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour” or an abuse of power “in ways that undermine, humiliate, denigate or injure the recipient”.
Notably, Tolley reiterated a finding that behaviour could be classed as bullying even if the person at fault did not mean to bully.
Normal workplaces outside the political arena may not have a ministerial code, but similar principles on behaviour apply, say experts.
“As a manager, you can be robust about challenging poor work and set down reasonable expectations,” says John Bowers KC, an experienced employment law barrister and the principal of Brasenose College, Oxford. “But what you cannot do is be malicious, humiliating, over the top or too personal.”
Who’s to say what is “over the top”, though? Allegations of bullying can be highly subjective, Bowers agrees, “and more importantly everyone’s susceptibility is different, which partly depends on how senior the person is.”
Part of the problem is that there is no specific legal definition of bullying. While the government says examples of bullying can include spreading malicious rumours, unfair treatment, regularly undermining someone or denying them training or promotion opportunities, these are not in themselves against the law.
It doesn’t need to be in person: communications by email, phone or letter can constitute bullying behaviour as well as face-to-face interactions.
It is only when this behaviour is related to protected characteristics such as a person’s age, race, sex, religion, disability or sexual orientation that it is legally classed as harassment, and falls under the Equality Act 2010.
“Bullying is generally described as unwanted behaviour, but that’s a pretty loose definition,” says Andrea London, a partner in the employment department at the law firm Winckworth Sherwood. To qualify, “it has to be more than unwanted – along the lines of being offensive, insulting or humiliating”.
Perhaps someone has spread a malicious rumour about you, or keeps putting you down in meetings. Your boss may continually give you a heavier workload than others in your team. A colleague may have made humiliating or threatening comments or photos on your social media posts. All are cited by Acas, the workplace conciliation service, as potential examples of bullying.
It doesn’t have to be your manager or someone more senior to you, Acas points out – a more junior employee can be guilty of bullying their superior if they show ongoing disrespect, refuse to carry out tasks or attempt to undermine their more senior colleague.
Most employers should have a bullying at work policy, notes London, which should include clear guidance and lead to an established grievance procedure that either seeks to resolve the situation informally or allows someone to make a more formal complaint.
If that doesn’t reach a resolution, a person who feels they have been bullied may have no legal redress other than to resign and claim for constructive dismissal.
To establish constructive unfair dismissal, however, three tests have to be met, says London. “There has to be a repudiatory breach of your contract” – one that goes to the very heart of your employment terms – “you have to resign in response to that breach, and you have to do that without undue delay”. That is “a very high bar to have met”, she says.
In such a case, employment tribunals will look at the conduct of the employer and how seriously they have taken complaints about a staff member’s behaviour. “If the employers have just batted it away and [said] there’s nothing here, this person is a complainer and just doesn’t like being told what to do – tribunals don’t like to hear that kind of behaviour from employers.”
If you feel you are being bullied, keep a diary, London advises. “Bullying can be quite insidious and you might not have any witnesses to the behaviour. If a bully is being malicious, rather than it just being part of their personality, the chances are that they will try to cover up what they’re doing.”
But if you’re a straight-talking manager who just wants to push your team, how do you avoid tipping over into accusations of bullying? “Communication is really key,” she says. “As a manager, you might say: ‘Look, we’ve got to get to this particular target, and I really need everybody to pull together. If you think that I’m being short because my emails are just one-liners, don’t take that personally – and if you have any concerns about anything, come and speak to me about it.’
“A manager who is aware of their potential foibles is probably in a much better position than somebody who just thinks that they’re able to bulldoze people.”
• This article was amended on 23 April 2023. An earlier version referred to “unfair dismissal” rather than “constructive dismissal”, which was intended.
