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If an employee says they feel singled out, arrange time to listen privately and take the concern seriously. Ask what has happened, what support they need now and whether they want help finding your complaints procedure. Do not decide, before hearing them, that it is either bullying or a misunderstanding.
GOV.UK includes unfair treatment, regularly undermining someone and denying training opportunities among examples of bullying or harassing behaviour.[1] Those examples are a reason to ask careful questions, not a checklist for reaching your own legal conclusion. This article offers practical conversation prompts and signposting, not legal advice or an investigation procedure.
Make room to hear what happened
Choose somewhere colleagues cannot overhear, and allow enough time that the employee does not feel hurried back to the shop floor. A useful opening might be: “Thank you for telling me. Can you talk me through what has been happening?” Keep the first conversation focused on understanding their account rather than defending how your business normally works.
Ask for examples in their own words. Was it a comment during a handover, repeated exclusion from messages, or a difference in how tasks were allocated? Ask when it happened and whether there are messages or other records they want you to consider. Avoid pressing for an explanation of another person’s motives. You are trying to understand the concern, not make the employee prove everything in one sitting.
Before taking notes, explain their purpose and how they will be handled under your organisation’s procedure. Ask the employee to check that you have understood their main points. Do not promise complete secrecy or an outcome you cannot guarantee.
Separate the concern from your first reaction
In a small team, you may know everyone involved well. Resist answering with “they would never mean it” or “that’s just their sense of humour”. Equally, do not agree that someone has behaved wrongly before their account has been heard. Try: “I have heard what you are saying, and I need to look at it properly.”
If the concern is about you, consider who could handle it without you controlling the response. That might mean asking for appropriate independent HR support rather than passing it to a colleague who reports directly to you. Check your arrangements before naming somebody as impartial.
Keep ordinary work conversations separate from the complaint. Do not use a team meeting to test the allegation, ask colleagues to take sides or turn the employee’s concern into a lesson for everyone else.
Explain the route, without forcing an informal solution
Find the relevant policy together rather than saying “it’s in the handbook”. GOV.UK describes routes through a manager, HR or a trade union representative, and a formal complaint using the employer’s grievance procedure.[1] Explain which contact and procedure apply in your business, and where the employee can find them.
Ask whether they are raising a concern for discussion or want to use a formal process. Do not make a private confrontation with the other person the price of being heard. If you are unsure how to proceed, get appropriate advice before improvising an investigation or promising mediation.
For employment-specific questions in Great Britain, follow the current GOV.UK signposting to Acas.[1] In Northern Ireland, nidirect points to the Labour Relations Agency and Advice NI.[4] Keep this conversation about access to a fair process, not your interpretation of someone’s legal rights.
Agree what happens before the next shift
Ask what would help the employee manage the immediate working day. Could instructions be clearer, a check-in happen privately, or a named contact be available? Treat these as questions to discuss, not automatic changes or a promise that nobody else will be affected.
Agree a date for an update, even if you may only be able to explain that enquiries are continuing. Send a short, factual summary of the next steps through your usual appropriate channel. Make clear who the employee should contact if something else happens before then. A vague “leave it with me” gives them little to work with.
Keep support separate from resolving the complaint
Offer space to discuss support without asking the employee to disclose a diagnosis. If they want help with their mental health, NHS guidance explains routes through a GP and mental health services.[2] Support should sit alongside dealing with the workplace concern, rather than replacing it.
For urgent mental health help in England, call NHS 111 and choose the mental health option; call 999 in an emergency or if someone’s life is at risk.[2] Elsewhere in the UK, check your local NHS urgent mental health route. Samaritans is available free on 116 123, day or night.[3]
Before the conversation ends, confirm the next contact, the next update and where the written procedure lives. For more reading for small employers, visit MH360’s Businesses & Employers hub.
Sources
[1] Workplace bullying and harassment
[2] Where to get urgent help for mental health
