To request to not work with this collegue?

[HCantThinkOfAUsername]

Tried to name change in case this is outing but forgot my bloody password.
So I'll try not to drip feed but don't want to put too much.

A colleague who I thought I got on really well with has spread a lot of nasty things about me which I didn't know about until another collegue confronted me about these things the other day saying she couldn't keep quiet anymore - I'm glad she did!

I had no idea that no one wanted to work with me because of the lies this woman spread.
Things include:

• apparently I go on people's phones to delete evidence of lies I've told.
• I've lied about my health. Think along lies of serious things. My employer has seen all evidence of my hospital stays and appointments
• that people can't trust me as I'm a snake and the one causing trouble and reporting people (it's her).

And many more things. This has been going on months apparently but she asked everyone not to mention anything to me (because she knows it's bullshit!)
So the damage has been done. I've spent a while wondering why everyone was being distant with me and now I know it's because of these lies and I'm hurt.

I work in a small company (16 of us) and we tend to work in pairs.

I don't want to inflame the situation so have been applying for other jobs to get out of the environment but I love where I am and know it can maybe be repaired.

Sorry if this makes no sense or sounds petty!

spidey It's HR's job to deal with any grievances brought by employers, disciplinary issues and so on, so things that might lead to one of those scenarios would be things HR could be expected to put on record and advise on. Small everyday disagreements, no; potential bullying and unprofessional behaviour, quite possibly. I've also worked in the NHS btw.

This is HR's job.

I've no HR just boss who is owner.

I'm thinking of chickening out I hate causing trouble. Working with boss later but don't know if it would sabotage talking about it, "off the record".

Since it is a small company with no HR and the perpetrator is friends with the boss, I don't think the short term outcome is likely to be favourable to you and you are right to hedge your bets by applying for other jobs.

Once you have an offer in hand, you are in a much stronger position and can lay it on the line with your boss about your colleague (and hopefully gathered more evidence by then), and resign shortly thereafter if the reaction is not what you are after. It is not the ideal solution but the practical one in the circumstances and I am a realist.

That said, once you have an alternative offer, you would probably already have emotionally checked out of this job and your desire to resolve the issue/get justice will rapidly wan in favour of just keeping your head down and making a fresh start elsewhere. The only benefit of saying anything is to hopefully make it more difficult for your colleague to do what she did to you to her next partner - I.e. if you had a sense of moral outrage. If you still want to make that point, do it before you resign. Once you resign, people will just ignore what you say, which is what people do with exit interviews.