Many women who start their own business do so after a damaging experience as an employee. When a job becomes a source of anxiety, humiliation and depression, self-employment can feel like the only escape. One particularly destructive form of group bullying is workplace mobbing in the UK. It is more common than many employers admit: the CIPD’s Health and Wellbeing at Work survey 2025 found that 28 per cent of UK employees had experienced conflict at work in the previous 12 months, while 11 per cent reported bullying or harassment. ACAS estimated in 2021 that workplace conflict costs UK employers around £28.5 billion a year.
What workplace mobbing in the UK looks like
Mobbing is a deliberate, sustained attempt to force someone out of their job through unjustified accusations, humiliation, harassment and emotional abuse. Unlike one-to-one bullying, mobbing is carried out by a group who gang up to isolate, discredit or expel the target. While traditional bullying often flows downwards from a manager, mobbing can target anyone, including team leaders and senior staff.
A ringleader, often a skilled gossip or manipulator, builds a case against the target in private. By the time the target realises what is happening, the narrative may already be fixed. Mobbing can have a passive-aggressive, exclusionary quality that is sometimes reported more frequently in female-dominated workplaces, although it happens in every sector.
Targets are often popular, enthusiastic and high-achieving colleagues who volunteer for extra tasks and demonstrate strong integrity. Survivors often describe mobbing as a merciless witch hunt aimed at crushing both psychological wellbeing and future earning capacity. Recovery can take years, but recognising the pattern early can help you protect yourself and leave on your own terms. If you are also dealing with wider pressure, our strategies to tackle workplace stress may help.
How to recognise mobbing at work
Sociologist Kenneth Westhues identified the following indicators of mobbing:
- By standard criteria of job performance, the target is at least average, probably above average.
- Rumours and gossip circulate about the target’s misdeeds: “Did you hear what she did last week?”
- The target is not invited to meetings or voted onto committees, is excluded or excludes self.
- Collective focus on a critical incident that “shows what kind of person she really is”.
- Shared conviction that the target needs some kind of formal punishment, “to be taught a lesson”.
- Unusual timing of the decision to punish, for example apart from the annual performance review.
- Emotion-laden, defamatory rhetoric about the target in oral and written communications.
- Formal expressions of collective negative sentiment toward the target, such as a vote of censure, a petition or a meeting to discuss what to do about the target.
- High value on secrecy, confidentiality and collegial solidarity among the mobbers.
- Group think and loss of diversity of argument mean it becomes dangerous to “speak up for” or defend the target.
- Adding up small failings, real or imagined, to make a mortal sin that cries for action.
- The target is seen as personally abhorrent, with no redeeming qualities; stigmatising, exclusionary labels are applied.
- Disregard of due process or established procedures, as mobbers take matters into their own hands.
- Resistance to independent, outside review of sanctions imposed on the target.
- Outraged response to any appeals for outside help the target may make.
- Mobbers’ fear of violence from target, target’s fear of violence from mobbers, or both.
The phases of mobbing
Mobbing usually follows a pattern. Understanding the phases can help you spot it before it escalates:
1. The initial conflict or critical incident
Something minor is seized on by the ringleader and blown out of proportion. The target may not realise it has become an issue until much later.
2. Psychological abuse increases
Unreasonable communication, isolation, mounting gossip, backstabbing, public reputational attacks, sidelining and unmanageable workloads build up gradually and intensify until the target leaves.
3. Management intervenes
Managers often side with the perpetrators rather than the target. They may launch lengthy investigations into anonymous or trivial complaints. Even when allegations cannot be substantiated, the target is often blamed for the feelings or perceptions of the complainants.
4. The target is accused of being difficult or mentally ill
By this stage the target is usually highly stressed and their mental and physical health is suffering. Perpetrators may treat this as further evidence that the target is not up to the job.
5. Expulsion from employment
The target resigns, is dismissed or agrees to leave under pressure.
How to survive a mobbing attack
1. Understand mobbing and get support
Read reputable guidance from ACAS, the CIPD and mental-health charities. Understanding the process helps you anticipate tactics, resist self-blame and protect your health. If you belong to a trade union, contact your rep early. Our free workplace mental health tips also offer practical ways to protect your wellbeing.
2. Use careful language
Describe yourself as the target rather than the victim. Target emphasises that the abuse is directed at you, while victim can imply helplessness and feed a victim-blaming narrative. Talk about the damage caused by the perpetrators’ behaviour rather than an illness you have developed.
Keep your own communications calm, factual and minimal. Strip away dramatic language and reflect events back in neutral terms. Avoid being alone with perpetrators if possible.
3. Keep notes and store them safely
Keep a daily journal of incidents: dates, times, people present, witnesses, unreasonable requests, derogatory comments and the context. Mobbing is rarely a single event; its power lies in the cumulative effect of constant criticism and attacks.
Copy key emails and documents and store them at home or on a personal device. At the same time, keep a file of positive feedback and achievements to remind yourself of your real track record.
4. Put everything in writing
Use email for important communications. If you are being confused or undermined, send clarification emails and keep copies. Written records are essential if you later raise a grievance or take legal action.
5. Build countervailing power carefully
Name what is happening. Simply understanding workplace mobbing can shift the power balance. Keep stating the truth clearly and assertively. Look for allies: researchers call colleagues who speak up guardians, and they are the most effective protection against mobbing. Be cautious, though; silent bystanders often side with the majority to protect themselves, so test loyalty before sharing sensitive information.
6. Get medical evidence
If mobbing is affecting your physical or mental health, see your GP promptly and ask for your symptoms to be documented. A fit note may be necessary if you need time off. You can also self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies. Medical records can support a grievance, personal-injury claim or employment tribunal case.
7. Keep a life outside work
Maintain friendships, hobbies and family time. A strong support network outside the workplace counters the misery at work and gives you a foundation if you decide or are forced to leave.
Your rights under UK employment law
Bullying itself is not automatically against the law, but mobbing can become unlawful harassment if it relates to a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010, such as sex, race, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity, gender reassignment, or marriage and civil partnership.
Since 26 October 2024, the Worker Protection Act 2023 has also placed a legal duty on employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment at work. If an employer fails in this duty and sexual harassment occurs, employment tribunals can award a compensation uplift of up to 25 per cent.
Even where no protected characteristic is involved, sustained mobbing may breach the implied term of mutual trust and confidence in your employment contract under the Employment Rights Act 1996. A serious breach can entitle you to resign and claim constructive dismissal at an employment tribunal. You normally have three months less one day from the last incident to start a claim, but you must first contact ACAS for early conciliation, which can extend the deadline.
Your employer also has a duty of care under the Health and Safety at Work etc. Act 1974 to protect your health, safety and welfare. If mobbing causes work-related stress or mental-health injury, you may have a claim for personal injury or negligence.
If you are considering legal action, keep detailed records, follow your employer’s grievance procedure, and seek advice from ACAS, Citizens Advice, a solicitor or your trade union before resigning.
Rebuilding your career after mobbing
Surviving workplace mobbing in the UK is not about toughening up; it is about recognising abuse, asserting your rights and protecting your future. Many women who leave toxic workplaces go on to build successful careers or businesses, channelling their resilience into something positive. For context on the wider picture, see Women in Business: Key UK Facts. With the right support, documentation and legal knowledge, you can move on with confidence.
Where to get help now
- ACAS helpline: 0300 123 1100 (free, confidential advice on workplace rights)
- Citizens Advice: guidance on bullying at work and employment disputes
- Samaritans: 116 123 (24-hour emotional support)
- NHS: speak to your GP or self-refer to NHS Talking Therapies
- Trade union: contact your workplace rep or visit the TUC
