Being bullied at work but afraid to progress the matter for fear of losing job.

Suzy123, what are the issue that the supervisor picks on you for, are the issue relating to work performance or other matters, can you be a bit more specific about the topics.

Being bully is not good and can cause illness/depression and this would mean that you would have to go and speak to your GP about it.
 
OP, if you want this sorted so that the behaviour stops, then please do not follow the adversarial approach suggested in some posts. Do not ignore this so that the behaviour escalates.

Just make quiet enquiries first to establish what the company's policy is. If it has one, then the only time you could be treated negatively is if you are making a malicious accusation. That is not the same as reporting what you feel is inappropriate behaviour and an employer feeling it isn't bullying after an investigation.

Too often people either sit on these things so that they escalate or they immediately opt for the formal approach which can cause more harm than good.

The assumption seems to be that the supervisor is bullying. I'm not defending them at all or saying you are lying. I'm saying that sometimes the context and content of things can be lost, implied, taken wrong, etc.

An informal route will give you the option to present why you were upset by the comments and emails and why you regard them as inappropriate. It will also give the supervisor the chance to perhaps see how their manner can come across and change their behaviour. Nothing adversarial and more common sense and common courtesy.

If after this you aren't happy with the outcome or there is no change, then you can look at making it more formal if you wish.

The important thing is to get the behaviour stopped, not become involved in a battle.

Last and to emphasise yet again, you are protected under legislation so that if you make a complaint you cannot in anyway be penalised.

+1

Sometimes the bully may not be aware that his/her behaviour is causing offence - quite often its down to the mannerisms, tact, emotional intelligence etc. that the person has. The first step, before trying any of the formal or semi-formal approaches suggested, is to have a quiet word face to face with the individual. I've seen situations whereby this has been enough to stop the behaviour - where the person was unaware they were causing offence. I think that if you dont do this, any accusation will fall on procedural grounds as you will be accussed of not being reasonable by pointing out the offending behaviour to the person. I dont think it is a good idea to bring a witness to the first face to face as it is more likely to cause the person to become defensive and stick their ground rather than change their behaviour (which is what you really want).

If the informal approach fails, then go down the more formal route, but don't discount the quiet word approach - it very often works.
 
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