Everyone is finding working from home challenging and sometimes quite stressful, even more so if you are also trying to juggle the demands of small children no longer at school or in nursery/child minding.

By and large we think that most employees and managers are considerate of the additional pressures their colleagues with children are facing at present, but unfortunately we have been approached by some members about negative comments being said or posted about them on social media when childcare needs impacts their ability to do their job, especially those whose role involves customer-centric shifts.

To be clear this is unacceptable and is bullying. We have raised this issue with HR and they agree it is unacceptable. If you find colleagues are making negative comments about your issues balancing childcare responsibilities and work, you should speak to your manager. If they do not resolve the issue speak to your local Unite rep and we will help address the bullying.

It was rather ironic in the week Unite in AXA decided to promote the Dignity at Work initiative, which AXA has signed up to, that the company should unfortunately appear in the press for all the wrong reasons in respect of bullying. Recognising the importance of the issue and that one incident is one too many, the company are preparing new training for managers on the subject, a move we applaud.

Earlier in the week we issued a newsletter challenging us all to look at our own behaviours and ensure they do not step over the line into bullying. Today we are issuing a newsletter for staff concerned that they may be the victims of bullying and containing some tips on how to deal with bullying behaviour and where to get help. This newsletter can be accessed by clicking the link here.

A series of events promoting Dignity at Work have been held at sites across the AXA UK operation this week, notably at Basingstoke, Bolton, Ipswich (pictured below) and Morecambe.

We’d like to thank the efforts of all the workplace reps involved and the staff who took the opportunity to discuss bullying at work issues with them.

This week Unite in AXA are promoting the Dignity at Work initiative, a project jointly funded by Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and Unite the Union to tackle workplace bullying.

AXA is one of a number of companies that has signed up to the initiative and we are taking the opportunity to remind employees of the project and the main issues around bullying in the workplace.

When considering the issue of workplace bullying it is not only important that we all not only look to stop bullying and support victims, but also consider our own behaviours.  It is all to easy in a stressful workplace environment with challenging targets to be met to take our eye off the ball and behave in an inappropriate manner. With this in mind we have produced a newsletter with suggestions on how we can turn bullying behaviour into best workplace practice and make AXA a better place to work in.

Click here to read the newsletter.