For years, workplace bullying has sat in an awkward legal gap. Employees who experience sustained intimidation, humiliation, or abuse often discover that the law only offers remedies if that behaviour can be tied to discrimination, harassment linked to a protected characteristic, or the high bar of constructive dismissal. Many cases fall short of those thresholds, leaving serious workplace harm without a clear legal route.
The Bullying and Respect at Work Bill is designed to change that. It is a private members bill that seeks to give bullying at work a clear statutory definition, strengthen routes to redress, and place workplace culture under sharper regulatory scrutiny. The Bullying and Respect at Work Bill was first proposed in 2023, and with a second reading due on 9 January 2026. Without government support however, it would be unlikely to pass. Nevertheless, political factors may suggest the government could be minded to support this legislation.
What the Bill is trying to do
At its core, the Bill attempts to do four things.
First, it would introduce a statutory definition of bullying at work. At present, employers rely on guidance from bodies such as ACAS, internal policies, and case law developed around harassment and unfair dismissal. The Bill aims to move bullying from guidance into statute, creating a clear legal benchmark for unacceptable conduct.
Second, it would allow workplace bullying to be considered explicitly by employment tribunals. The intention is to give employees a clearer legal route when bullying leads to dismissal or serious harm.
Third, it proposes the creation of a statutory Respect at Work Code. This code would set minimum standards for positive and respectful workplace environments. Tribunals would be able to take the code into account when assessing claims, giving it real legal weight rather than treating it as optional guidance.
Finally, the Bill would expand the powers of the Equality and Human Rights Commission to investigate organisations where there is evidence of a culture of bullying or repeated incidents, and to take enforcement action where standards are not met.
Taken together, the proposals move the focus away from isolated incidents and towards organisational culture, governance, and prevention.
How bullying would be defined
Although the precise wording may change depending on the progression of the legislation, the likely structure is already clear. The definition of bullying is expected to mirror elements of the Equality Act’s harassment provisions, while removing the requirement for the conduct to be linked to a protected characteristic.
In practice, this means unwanted conduct that has the purpose or effect of violating a person’s dignity, or creating an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment. The test would combine a subjective element, how the behaviour affected the individual, with an objective element, whether it was reasonable to view the conduct as offensive or humiliating in context.
This approach is designed to filter out trivial complaints, while still capturing patterns of abuse, misuse of power, and serious one-off incidents that cause real harm.
What would change for employers
For employers, the most immediate impact would be clarity on the definition of bullying combined with the potential for exposure.
Clarity, because there would finally be a statutory definition of bullying and an external code setting expectations for behaviour, reporting, and response. Exposure, because that clarity would make it easier for employees to raise complaints and for tribunals to assess whether an employer met the required standard.
The Bill anticipates an increase in bullying-related complaints. Some will be well founded. Others will be weak or vexatious. Employers would need to demonstrate that their grievance procedures, investigations, and training are robust, consistent, and fair.
A key feature is the proposed treatment of dismissals linked to bullying. Where an employee is dismissed because they have been subjected to bullying or have raised concerns about it, that dismissal is expected to be treated as automatically unfair.
Alongside this, the Respect at Work Code would act as a reference point. Employers would be expected to show that they have appropriate policies, training, reporting mechanisms, and cultural oversight in place. Failure to do so could weigh heavily against them in tribunal proceedings.
The expanded role of the EHRC also matters. The Commission would not be limited to reacting to individual claims. It could investigate wider patterns, assess workplace culture, and require remedial action such as policy changes, training programmes, or governance reforms.
Implications for senior leaders
For senior executives and managers, the Bill highlights personal as well as organisational risk. One limitation of the current proposals is that redress appears primarily focused on dismissal-related cases.
Employees who remain in employment may still need to rely on existing routes such as discrimination or whistleblowing claims. That said, the cultural and regulatory pressure created by the Bill could make it harder for poor behaviour to be tolerated or quietly managed away.
There is also the possibility, as with discrimination law, that individual perpetrators could face personal liability. Although that aspect would evolve during parliamentary scrutiny. Behaviour that has long been dismissed as ‘management style’ or ‘robust leadership’ will be tested against a clearer legal standard.
This could now impact senior leaders and high earners with the passage of the Employment Rights Act 2025. The statutory compensation cap has been removed from dismissal claims, meaning high earners have much more incentive to bring an employment claim. A statutory definition of bullying could open the door to a flood of new claims.
The parliamentary journey so far
This is a private members bill, not government legislation. It was introduced to Parliament on 21 October 2024 by Rachael Maskell, Labour MP for York Central. As with most private members’ bills, it faces an uphill path. Parliamentary time is limited, and without government backing many such bills never progress beyond early stages.
The Bill has passed its first reading. Its second reading is scheduled for 9 January 2026. That stage is crucial, as it is the first opportunity for substantive debate on the principles of the legislation. Beyond that lie committee scrutiny, report stage, and further votes, each of which creates opportunities for delay, amendment, or derailment.
Could it actually become law?
Private members’ bills rarely succeed without some level of government support. On paper, that makes the Bullying and Respect at Work Bill a long shot. Politically, the picture is more complex.
Rachael Maskell is known to be on the more activist and independent wing of the Labour Party. She was suspended from the parliamentary Labour party between July and November 2025 following a large-scale rebellion over significant cuts to the welfare budget which forced the government to back down. At the same time, she has emerged as a leading voice in opposition to assisted suicide, an issue that has proved deeply divisive across Parliament and within Labour itself, but an issue that is strongly backed by the Prime Minister.
Maskell represents a significant strand of the Labour back benches that is sceptical of welfare reform cuts as well as being firmly opposed to assisted suicide. With the Prime Minister’s position increasingly fragile, there is a non-zero chance that allowing a bill of this nature to progress could serve as a form of accommodation. Supporting legislation focused on dignity, respect, and workplace wellbeing may be an attractive way to placate a vocal wing of the party without reopening more contentious policy battles.
In addition, the government’s forced climbdown over some sections of the Employment Rights Act 2025 around day one rights for unfair dismissal could encourage more voices on the left of the party led by former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner to throw their weight behind measures seen as further protecting workers.
That does not mean the Bill will pass in its current form. It may be amended, narrowed, or reshaped. It may also stall. Despite the merits of the legislation itself, it will likely be political factors that carry the day.
What employers should be doing now
In short, there is nothing to do unless it becomes clear the government is backing this legislation. However, private members’ bills can indicate a direction of travel in policy spaces, and a government that would highlight the Maskell wing of the Labour Party could be more likely to bring this issue forward.
Regulators, tribunals, and employees are increasingly focused on culture, psychological safety, and respect at work. The expectation that employers should prevent bullying, respond decisively, and set clear behavioural standards is already taking hold.
If there is an indication that this legislation may progress, employers would be well advised to review their grievance procedures, consider whether bullying is addressed clearly and separately from discrimination, and ensure managers are trained to recognise and deal with issues early.
