Workplace bullying

[user2728882]

How much evidence do I need to be taken seriously if I want to put in a complaint of bullying regarding a colleague?
My workplace has a confidential system where I can complete a form but I don't know if I have enough evidence. I don't want to bother if it won't be taken seriously.

Only cold hard written bullying can be proven. Anything verbal can be altered to suit. People won't stand up as witnesses so don't count round.

I've looked into this a bit previously and I could be wrong but the general advice seemed to be that you should have some sort of log that can be backed up with dates/times/evidence of things that happened. Not sure how long that would have to be for and I guess it would also depend on the type of bullying. It also seemed that in most cases before you raise anything formally there is an expectation that you will have mentioned the issues to the person in question and/or raised it with your line manager first so that it can be addressed informally before an official complaint is made. It would be worth checking what your own companies policies are around this because they should have one.

If you wish to be taken seriously, then you don't expect to report it via a confidential system. There are no secret allegations if you want it to be actioned. "Somebody who doesn't wish to be named reported you for bullying so we're sacking you" - that didn't happen. You can attach as much evidence as you like - it counts for absolutely nothing if you won't stand up and be counted. To be fair, nor should it. Everyone has a right to know what they are being accused of and by whom.

For them to investigate the complaint it can only be confidential to an extent.
They can't just take your word for it
For the complaint to have repercussions on the person you're calling a bully, they first have the right to defend themself, they can only do this if they know who you are.
Have you raised this with both the person and your line manager? Without trying to resolve it informally first, some companies won't action a complaint

this is very true - you need it in writing otherwise its your word against theirs.

It depends what you mean by evidence. If you have emails then that will count, a conversation won’t as it’s all about perception. I wouldn’t bother with anonymity, surely it can’t be dealt with properly without outing facts.

It depends what has gone down. My grievance case was not upheld in the end because I had no witnesses who agreed to back me. I did however have an audio so they did retrain her because she had no idea how to manage or speak to people. And she left the company while i was on maternity leave and i took a large chunk of time off on sick leave after making the complaint which was the best thing i've ever done. It might not have had the outcome i hoped for but I gained my own sense of self respect back in the process.