tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-70538708033381068702011-10-11T01:07:52.523-07:00the last thing you need if you're being bulliedNeohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.comBlogger231100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-10825737906865429852011-01-12T13:48:00.000-08:002011-01-12T13:48:25.769-08:00

While the public waits for the Charity Commission to publish its investigation into the Bullying Helpline (National), the latter seems to be proposing to maintain its website, and is selling off copies of Bully In Sight. Unlike a conventional closing down sale, however, the price appears to have gone up. The book's RRP is £16.95, and you can get it on Amazon for that price including P&P.  The

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-58203701702164593062011-01-06T17:07:00.000-08:002011-01-06T17:07:51.389-08:00

Quote from the trustees of the national bullying helpline upon its closure on 6 January 2011: “May we thank our founders, our Ambassador, our dedicated team of Trustees, Volunteers, our Sponsors and all Associates for their invaluable input over recent years, to this worthy cause.” Extract from Christine Pratt's definition of bullying: "The Bully is often charming and persuasive and may even be

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-6994961480667089442011-01-06T11:16:00.000-08:002011-01-06T11:18:42.865-08:00

The following statement appeared on the national bullying helpline website today: TRUSTEE STATEMENT Trustees of The National Bullying Helpline Charity decided with regret at a meeting held on January 4, 2011, to discontinue the helpline service with immediate effect and take steps to close the Charity down. The full statement reports on the sad loss to society ... (read here)

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-69763054578092659122010-03-09T02:06:00.000-08:002010-03-09T02:06:56.850-08:00

A letter to the CIPD's  People Management Magazine with the headline "We badly need an anti-bullying service – but not this one" levels criticism at the National Bullying Helpline and adds: "I would also encourage the CIPD to review its support and relationship with this organisation". This comment is doubtless made because of the claims on the NBH website to operate procedures vetted by the CIPD

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-9134670530950743072010-03-01T13:25:00.000-08:002010-03-01T13:25:22.465-08:00

No, apparently. This from Civil Society Governance web site, 1 March 2010:- "Pratt answered the phone at her HR consultancy business, HR & Diversity Management Ltd, but refused to comment and referred enquiries to PR expert Max Clifford. Clifford, however, said he was not representing her and knew nothing about the BAE Systems lawsuit. “Christine came to me last week to ask me to give her

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-63081505476089511402010-03-01T13:18:00.000-08:002010-03-01T13:31:42.688-08:00

The familiy of workplace bullying pioneer Tim Field has posted a press statement on his bullyonline web site re: National Bullying Helpline Ltd / HR & Diversity Management Ltd: Tim Field's family supported the launch of the National Bullying Helpline in 2007. Tim's widow Susan became one of the founding trustees in the belief that the project would have met with his approval. In 2008, after she

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-91447471995068427002010-02-26T16:49:00.000-08:002010-02-26T17:16:25.814-08:00

What was it they said about separating the business and the charity? This from their blog (under the HR&DM name), posted 27 October 2009. (My emphasis is added to crucial clues to the presumption that HR&DM works with National Bullying Helpline, and that the former's investigations tend to favour the employer). "Help and Support for OrganisationsIt seems that many organisations are still 

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-63708804407879612622010-02-26T16:33:00.000-08:002010-02-26T16:33:26.934-08:00

The Charity Commission are said to be "investigating" the possible link between the charity front and the commercial business. It is not very hard to spot... Here is their web page, as of 26 February 2010. I don't think even the Pratts know where one stops and the other starts. Come on, Charity Commission!

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-39010628763957240562010-02-24T14:48:00.000-08:002010-02-24T15:52:09.863-08:00

One of the more worrying allegations that was first published on this blog, that the National Bullying Helpline and HR & Diversity Management were "inextricably linked", has been consistently defended by Christine Pratt and her husband and other trustees, and adopted by the now resigned patrons, with the line that the Charity Commission investigated the allegation and found no evidence of

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-73069827724295410742010-02-23T07:46:00.000-08:002010-02-23T15:43:56.646-08:00

This is the detail of the arrangement that Christine Pratt says was "vetted by the law society". The same information was provided in this form in January 2008 to people who should have known better than to just leave it alone. Quoting http://www.nationalbullyinghelpline.co.uk/contact.html "We have a clear privacy policy.  We do not share your details with anyone."__ Quoting from a "step by

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-30315085130063966252010-02-22T16:09:00.000-08:002010-02-22T16:09:24.913-08:00

A client of the National Bullying Helpline paid £300 in advance for three hours time-critical work that was not done. The deadline and scope of the task was made clear to Christine Pratt in advance. The client explained that she did not want an assessment (and there was no mention of an investigation), but she wanted advice on how to appeal. On 14/08, seven days before the deadline, Christine

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-57362216722765661782010-02-22T14:32:00.000-08:002010-02-22T15:58:00.727-08:00

If you live in the UK and caught any news today, you cannot have failed to notice the coverage given to Christine Pratt's claim to have had calls from staff at 10 Downing Street. It has been very reassuring to note that, while of course there has been a perception that her claims were made for political reasons, journalists have recognised that the breach of confidence of the alleged callers is

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-81193555249894764492009-11-05T17:10:00.000-08:002009-11-08T14:22:25.726-08:00

Other posts on this blog raise questions about the benefits and morality of running a charity and a commercial business, using the charity to locate clients for the business, at significant risk to the charity's client. I've received a set of documents today that reveal a much simpler form of exploitation. In a nutshell, this is a story of an employee who paid the National Bullying Helpline £310

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-8738327899376836742009-10-10T01:54:00.000-07:002009-10-25T14:41:55.363-07:00

Found this in a book randomly picked off a shelf this morning: "False pretense is a form of lying. You are guilty of this fault if you hold yourself out to be something you are not in order to impress others, to appear important, and to be admired..." "You practice social hypocrasy when you worm your way into the confidence of another, act as if you are solely concerned with giving sympathy and

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-89722478274441382312009-09-17T15:48:00.000-07:002009-09-17T15:48:48.265-07:00

Why would a person publish the material on this website? Because doing nothing does not amount to enough. Dr Gary Namie puts it succinctly in one of his blog posts: "Doing nothing is not a neutral act when an individual pleas for relief from the emotional misery bullying inflicts. Doing nothing is denying the person credibility as an adult. Doing nothing is sustaining the status quo and

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-72060053879764858402009-09-10T00:00:00.000-07:002009-09-16T16:34:50.894-07:00

Much of the evidence in support of the cautionary message on this blog is taken straight from HR & Diversity Management's web sites. An objective conclusion one draws from it is that some of the people who call the National Bullying Helpline and recommend HR&DM's investigation services to their employer will be deemed by HR&DM's investigator to have a vexatious grievance and/or to be "the bully".

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-82497508106247895602009-09-03T15:54:00.000-07:002009-09-17T09:52:54.102-07:00

[Update 16 Sept: The page referred to below was updated after I wrote to the trustees letting them know about this blog and the reasons. NBH has removed the disdainful references indirectly aimed at the presumed author, and put some interesting comments in their place.] The National Bullying Helpline website has recently been updated with an article under the headline "CYBERBULLYING". It

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-59822028452873434662009-09-01T00:00:00.000-07:002009-09-01T15:03:45.609-07:00

HR & Diversity Management's web site says: "At HR&DM we have designed a model which ascertains, very early on, whether an employee grievance is vexatious or not." How would this help someone who called the National Bullying Helpline, and who was persauded to introduce HR&DM to their employer for the purpose of conducting an investigation into their grievance? It would be really helpful to

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-20953841754579825532009-08-30T12:00:00.000-07:002009-08-31T10:56:01.071-07:00

"During 2006 32% of the complaints investigated by HR&DM were found to be vexatious."  - source: HR&DM The "Employees" page of the National Bullying Helpline website says: "SUSPENDED For raising a Grievance? Call us today. "DISCIPLINED For raising a Grievance? Call us today.These possibilities are presented as if they amount to bullying, something the helpline can help you

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-33513158247680216052009-08-29T14:15:00.000-07:002009-09-01T16:15:26.324-07:00

A pair of alleged former Human Resources managers tell of their purpose in the business and of their methods. Taken from Annabelle Gurwitch's first-person documentary on getting the axe, "Fired"   Any similarity to any person, organisation or event is entirely coincidental.

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-73276115801790969642009-08-28T00:00:00.000-07:002009-08-28T05:54:19.806-07:00

An investigation report written in 2007 by Christine Pratt begins: "This investigation was instigated by a telephone call to the National Bullying Helpline (Charity) by [X], the complainant."Elsewhere in the preamble, the report says: “Conflict of interest Employment Law Solicitors will take instructions from an employee or an employer and advise them on employment matters but will not

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-1567771128827374842009-08-27T05:07:00.000-07:002009-09-26T06:40:45.904-07:00

The National Bullying Helpline website does not publish a definition of workplace bullying, the closest thing being an article for employees which describes it as a "fact of life", and something that "takes many forms" with "... a cumulative effect which builds into a much more serious situation."  A clear definition makes it reasonably easy for a person to know whether they are being bullied or

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7053870803338106870.post-38673513981492358252009-08-24T17:55:00.000-07:002009-08-31T10:28:16.718-07:00

The National Bullying Helpline (Charity) is inextricably linked to HR & Diversity Management Limited (a commercial business). They were both set up by the same person, Christine Pratt. One client received and followed her advice after calling the National Bullying Helpline which resulted in Pratt, through HR & Diversity Management Ltd, working for her client's employer and writing a report that

Neohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11297791148507828159noreply@blogger.com29