Onboard·Guide
Workplace bullying: explain reporting and follow-up
Explain workplace bullying policies, reporting routes and follow-up. Help employees find the relevant contact and review how the organisation responds.
Written byMira ValeKey takeaways
- Explain expected conduct with recognisable workplace examples.
- Publish a usable reporting route and an alternative if the usual contact is involved.
- Explain the next step and information handling through the approved procedure.
- Check that policy links and contacts remain accessible after onboarding.
Workplace bullying can involve repeated ridicule, exclusion, online humiliation or other harmful behaviour. Arboportaal distinguishes bullying from an isolated incident or conflict, while explaining that a conflict can develop into bullying.[1]
Employees need clear information about the organisation's reporting routes and the people responsible for responding. Explain those arrangements during onboarding and keep them available afterwards.
Explain the behaviour policy
Use the organisation's approved policy to describe expected conduct and how reports are handled. Give employees a current reference and explain where questions should go.
Review the policy with the relevant workplace advisers and representatives. A learning activity should reflect those approved arrangements.
- 01
Repeated ridicule
Examples can include insulting remarks or making a colleague the repeated target of jokes.[1]
- 02
Exclusion
Ignoring or socially isolating a colleague can form part of bullying behaviour.[1]
- 03
Online humiliation
Bullying can also happen through online messages or posts. The reporting information should cover the channels employees use.[1]
Make reporting routes easy to find
Arboportaal advises reporting bullying, for example to a manager, HR or a confidential adviser. Explain the available routes in your organisation, including where to go if the concern involves the usual contact.[1]
Give employees accurate contact information. Explain the scope and limits of each role rather than promising anonymity that the process cannot guarantee.
Respond through the appropriate process
Listen to the report and follow the organisation's procedure. Explain the next step and which person is responsible for it.
Keep records and information handling within that procedure. Avoid turning a report into a public team discussion or assuming the facts before the relevant review.
- 01
Listen and explain the route
Give the person room to describe the concern. Explain who will receive it under the procedure and what the next step involves.
- 02
Use the approved record
Keep the necessary information in the record specified by the procedure. Do not reuse a real report as a public learning example.
- 03
Agree how follow-up works
Explain who will contact the person and when they should expect an update under the process. Do not promise a predetermined finding or outcome.
Review prevention and employee information
Check whether employees know where to raise a concern and whether the contact information is current. Review recurring gaps with the people responsible for the policy.
Internal communication can help keep those instructions visible. It cannot replace the investigation or qualified judgement a particular case may require.
Check the route with a fictional scenario
Use a policy-approved fictional scenario in employee information. For example, a colleague wants to raise repeated exclusion but the usual manager is involved. Ask employees to find the alternative contact and the approved explanation of what happens next.
The policy owner checks whether the named contact is available and whether the information matches the actual procedure. Keep real reports out of the exercise. It checks access to information; it does not investigate or resolve a complaint.
Sources
- Arboportaal. Pesten op het werk. Behaviour examples and reporting contacts. Accessed 9 October 2026. https://www.arboportaal.nl/onderwerpen/psychosociale-arbeidsbelasting/pesten-op-het-werk
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