What you can do
If you experience being offended, bullied or sexually harassed, you can do the following:
- If you have a policy for bullying, it should describe who to contact and how specific cases involving offensive behaviour, including bullying and sexual harassment, are to be addressed by management.
- Go to your manager. Whether or not you have a policy for dealing with bullying, you must tell your manager about the offensive behaviour, so he/she can address the problem.
- Go to your health and safety representative if you have one. If you don’t feel comfortable about going to your manager – or if your manager is the person doing the bullying – you can go to your elected health and safety representative, or to any health and safety consultant or HR department at the workplace.
- Go to a colleague you trust and who may be able to help you.
Take offensive behaviour, bullying and harassment seriously
Offensive behaviour, bullying or sexual harassment at the workplace can have a serious effect on you. For example, you may feel agitated, nervous and insecure, and you may find it difficult to cope with what is going on. Perhaps your behaviour starts to change – you become passive, restless and have difficulty sleeping.
Headaches, muscle pain and nausea as well as psychological symptoms such as memory and concentration problems, aggression, anxiety and depression may occur.
Bullying hotline
The Danish Working Environment Authority has a hotline for offensive behaviour, bullying and sexual harassment at the workplace.
Both managers and employees can get advice and guidance anonymously if they experience bullying in the workplace.
- The telephone number for the hotline is +45 70 22 12 80.