Workplace Bullying in United Kingdom

Interest in and awareness of the issue of workplace bullying emerged in the UK in the early 1990s. Through a series of radio-programmes the journalist and broadcaster Andrea Adams, who is believed to have originally coined the term workplace bullying , explored the problem and its significance in UK workplaces. The programmes and the following media debate functioned as an eye-opener for a wider audience and, with the landmark publication of the book Bullying at work: How to confront it and overcome it (Adams, 1992), the interest in the issue quickly gained momentum. Within a time-span of less than ten years, the phenomenon of bullying found a resonance with large sections of the British public. Supported by empirical evidence (e.g. Hoel, Cooper and Faragher, 2001; UNISON, 1997, Quine 1999), suggesting that a substantial proportion of the UK working population perceived themselves to be bullied, with implications for individuals, organisations and society alike, the issue gradually moved upwards on the agenda of trade unions, organisations within the private and the public sectors, as well as within Governmental agencies.