Practical jokes in the work place

rover2000

When is this acceptable and when does it cross over into bullying.
A friend of mine is in a fairly new job. She feels she's become the butt of people's jokes. Its affecting her work and she would like it to stop. She thinks telling her supervisor will make it worse.

sangie595

rover2000 wrote: »

When is this acceptable and when does it cross over into bullying.
A friend of mine is in a fairly new job. She feels she's become the butt of people's jokes. Its affecting her work and she would like it to stop. She thinks telling her supervisor will make it worse.

It crosses the line when she says it does, But unless she takes some action to stop it, then there is nothing that can be done about it. So she tells her colleagues to back off, or she reports it to the manager.

rover2000

She's keeping a diary. Then she can see what happened and whether there's a pattern. Also note down if they target anyone else.

Retrogamer

She should let them know if she's not enjoying it or it's upsetting her. They might see it as a bit of banter and not be aware they're causing her problems.

engineer_amy

The colleagues may not realise that she feels uncomfortable, and think it is harmless banter. She should have a quiet word with one or two of them, letting them know that she isn't comfortable.


From that point on, if it continues, it could be harassment and her diary would be useful if she needs to take it to a superior. She could raise a formal grievance depending on the superior's reaction and response.

Gavin83

What sort of practical jokes are we talking here?

double_mummy

at an old call centre job we used to pull jokes on each other all the time - it was something to pass the time - we all respected if you didnt pull them you dont get them pulled on you

she needs to speak up she doesnt want to participate

dawyldthing

She needs to turn around when they are starting one day and say quite loudly 'pack it in, I'm not interested', if they don't stop it Id bring it up with the next manager up. If needed and they don't do anything keep escalating it as they will have to eventually

TELLIT01

A joke is really only a joke if all parties are willing participants.

rover2000

She's trying to train on a new job
They hide her stuff and mess around and generally distract her.
Also the person who is supposed to be training her is one of the culprits. He now keeps telling her she can't do her job.
She asks him questions about work and he ignores her.

xapprenticex

Wow thats crazy

Unfortunatly there is no law against bullying in the workplace so if management are uselss, you're done for.

IMO its bullying if you tell them to stop, and they dont. Best thing imo is to speak to the bully one to one, ask him to pack it in. Easier for me to say, im a male and scary when angry.