Dealing with Bullying at Work

Originally written by Emma Jones, updated by the editorial team on 19th October 2026

Being bullied as an apprentice can damage your confidence, your health and your training. Your employer should take bullying seriously and take steps to protect your health and safety.

What counts as bullying

Bullying can include offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, or misuse of power that undermines or humiliates someone. It can happen once or repeatedly. Warning signs include:

Being deliberately left out of meetings you need for your work
Constant unfair criticism or blame for other people's mistakes
Jokes or "banter" aimed at you that make you uncomfortable
Pointless tasks, no work at all, or having your training blocked
Messages or posts online that target you

Context matters. Reasonable instructions and constructive feedback are not usually bullying, but the way they are delivered can be.

Some bullying is also unlawful. In England, Scotland and Wales, the Equality Act 2010 covers harassment: unwanted conduct related to a protected characteristic, such as age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation, that violates your dignity or creates a hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment. One incident can count, even if it was not aimed at you, and unwanted sexual conduct is covered too. Northern Ireland has separate laws.

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Getting support at work

Being bullied is not your fault, and you do not have to wait for it to get worse before asking for help. Someone you trust could help you record events or prepare to talk to your manager.

Note what happened, when, where and who was there, and save messages. Notes made soon afterwards help you remember details. Keep them secure and do not take confidential business or customer information.

If you feel safe, you could calmly tell the person to stop, but you do not have to. You can go to your manager, HR or someone more senior instead. Ask about practical measures while things are looked into, such as a different reporting contact or not working alone with the person.

Your assessor or tutor can raise concerns with your employer. Your training provider's safeguarding lead can help, especially if you are under 18 or face threats, exploitation or serious welfare concerns. Violence, threats or sexual assault may need urgent help, including from the police.

Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.

Raising a complaint

You can raise a formal grievance in writing straight away if the behaviour is serious or dealing with it informally feels wrong, or later if informal action has not helped. Your employer should investigate, meet you, give a written outcome and offer an appeal. At a formal grievance hearing you can usually bring a colleague or union representative, but this right does not normally cover informal or investigation meetings. Being treated badly for making or supporting a discrimination complaint may itself be unlawful.

Outside help and legal options

Depending on your needs, these organisations offer employment advice, information or emotional support:

Acas (Great Britain) and the Labour Relations Agency (Northern Ireland): employment advice
Citizens Advice: help understanding your rights
Apprenticeship support: in England, use the current complaints route on GOV.UK; elsewhere, ask your training provider
Mind: mental health information and support
Samaritans: someone to listen, day or night

Bullying alone is not usually a tribunal claim; you need a legal basis such as discrimination or harassment. Strict time limits apply, a grievance does not normally pause them, and in Great Britain you usually must contact Acas for early conciliation first. Get advice early, and before resigning, since leaving can affect your apprenticeship.

A good first step is to record what happened and contact someone you trust at work or at your training provider.

The Next Step

Now that you have read through the advice above, you might want to put it into practice. Our Apprenticeship Eligibility Checker lets you tell us about your situation and find out which UK apprenticeships you qualify for and how to apply. Try it now →

Showing 24 of 45 questions

Ask An Apprenticeship a Question

AnApprenticeship Editor 23/05/2026 at 9:16 am

@Juj What your son went through is workplace bullying and almost certainly a breach of his apprenticeship agreement, so report it to the training provider or college that was meant to enrol him, and to ACAS on 0300 123 1100 for free advice. He may also have a claim for constructive dismissal or unpaid wages below the apprentice minimum, and Citizens Advice can help him put it in writing. Please get him to speak to his GP too, as what you're describing sounds like trauma and he shouldn't be carrying this alone.

Juj 06/07/2024 at 7:39 pm

My son started an apprenticeship explained he had no experience at all at the interview but was verbally abused for 9 Months. The job was fitting alarms where he up ladders and in attics, the boss threatened to knock the ladder from him, shouted at him, embarrassed him Infront of customers, and basically was evil to him. He would switch within seconds from being pleasant to evil. One day asked to leave on time as had plans and the boss purposely made them late. This behaviour was constant he kept making excuses not to enrole him onto a course although he had got to the stage of fitting alarms on his own, with his boss stood watching his every move. He even went on holiday and left him in charge bearing in mind he was paying him £5 and hour.
He eventually told me and managed to leave although it took a lot of encouragement as he was so scared. He has now been suffering with anger, anxiety, stress and depression for the last 9months and this experience has changed him completely.
The guy had 3 young apprentices work for him prior to my son, all of them left before completing the apprenticeship so he has a track record.
I don't know where to go or what to do and I feel I have lost my son as he is a shadow of the person he was.

RACHY M 30/04/2024 at 12:30 pm

My daughter started a Dental Nurse Apprenticeship at the beginning of March. She gave up a full time bar job the take on this apprenticeship. So was a massive pay drop.
A week into the apprenticeship she was not happy. The dentist was rude & aggressive towards her. She was made to pay for a Hep B vaccine course £250.00.
She was made to clean the Dentists private living quarters, clean outside the surgery, including clean spider webs near the Bins outside.
Then last week the Dentist smacked her had & asked her not press the xray button.
My Daughter is now very stressed & anxious. She was so confident before.
Legally were does she stand?

Nattajack 28/01/2021 at 8:54 am

My 19 year old son worked as a construction apprentice on a self-employed basis (for someone who is also self-employed). For 4 months his boss spoke (shouted) at him every day (putting him down to his face but often praising him to others). My son had enough and walked off of the job the other day (he rang my crying and I had to travel 6 hours to pick him up as he was working away). We have forwarded the invoice to his boss for payment of the days he worked (Sat, Sun, Mon, Tues am) but wondered where my son would stand in reporting him for how he treats his apprentices. The fact that he cannot keep an apprentice (he has had a few in the last year) says more about him as a boss than them as apprentices. Also, where would my son stand if his boss doesn't pay him? Thanks in advance.

Pete 15/11/2020 at 9:10 pm

Report Bullying and the Managers will cover it up.The bullies will then get promotion....And they will get rid of you as a trouble maker ....

Clarkey 17/02/2020 at 10:23 am

My daughter is working as an apprentice in a Hair Salon and the manager speaks to her in a very unprofessional and confrontational way, she also makes threats. This is obviously upsetting for my daughter (which the manager has also passed comment on) and i'd like to know who this manager can be reported to as enough is enough.

I do not want my daughters apprenticeship to be jeopardised as she is so close to qualifying and has worked extremely hard to get where she currently is.

Alanna12xx 24/09/2019 at 10:15 pm

I am doing an apprenticeship in childcare and I’m nearly a year into my apprentice and all I’m doing is cleaning so recently I’ve been saying that I’m not here to clean I get spoken to like a rubbish and I can’t even go to my manager because she’s the one who’s doing it she even messaged me on social media during my free time saying I’m letting the nursery down because I’m not cleaning at night for one of the cleaners that is off I don’t know what to do who can I contact for help?

None 30/03/2019 at 2:40 pm

My daughter has recently walked out of an apprenticeship because she was being picked on constantly for silly reasons how does she stand now money wise do they owe her her week in hand /holidays etc

Linabb 29/03/2019 at 11:38 pm

My son started an apprenticeship in jan.. so far he has learned nothing as he is just being used as a labourer. His boss complains if he doesn’t work Saturdays and some Sundays despite him working 8 hours a day mon to fri. He’s constantly being ridiculed at work by his boss and is referred to as the c**t by his boss. My son is just 18

Naomi 11/03/2019 at 9:26 pm

My daughter is 19 and doing childcare apprenticeship she works 9 till 3 Monday to Friday and has been told she's not entitled to a break she's also told what she can and can't eat and has to eat her food with the children at lunch time, she's also had a colleague shake her on the shoulder accusing her of making promises to children about if they eat all there food and the parents will buy them presents which she never said! Feel like she's getting unfair treatment.

David 29/01/2019 at 7:50 pm

I'm 4 months into my coacbuilding engineering apprenticeship I love what Iam doing but I feel as though my mentor is bullying me. And i don't know what to do. He has no patience and when I make mistake he gets verbally abusive even when I don't do anything wrong he still has this aggressiveness about him. He only explains things once and when i don't remember he kicks off. When i ask for any advice about a job he just says effing get on with it I want it done. When I have done my task he just says your not up to speed. You need to work my speed.. I 've put up with him for this long but the other day he had me in years. He's 52 and I'm a 43 year old adult apprentice. I haven't spoke to my supervisor yet but he has a track record of this behaviour. He had me in tears the other day. It's really effecting me. Please advice

Dwg 08/01/2019 at 7:34 pm

My 17 year old daughter is doing a hair dressing apprenticeship. She was in tears tonight because her boss makes her feel inadequate. There is a two hour meeting this week where the manager is going to tell everyone just how terrible they are. My daughters in such a state. Surely this is a safeguarding issue as she is a minor and feels intimidated and losing her belief in herself. Please advise.

AnApprenticeship Editor 23/01/2018 at 12:34 pm

You can see how the disciplinary action will work for your partner. This will allow him to give his side of the story. If your partner has been with his employer for three years, then he will have the option to apply for unfair dismissal. If this happens and if he is eligible, , which would involve taking the matter to a tribunal. On a separate note, if your partner is unhappy with the way his apprenticeship is run, he could have complained to his apprentice provider, or raised a previous grievance, If your partner had been previously unhappy, he would have had to try to solve the problem or concern informally by talking to his manager. If he was still not satisfied, he could have raised a grievance, , or complained to his apprentice provider, However, the matter has gone beyond this course now.

Sami 22/01/2018 at 7:37 pm

My partner is a paint sprayer apprentice he has his VRQ L3 and is doing his NVQ L3 as his apprenticeship(of which he has been doing for 3 years now and each year the employing company has change college provider and he has practically restarted his training each year from scratch therefore prolonging his completion). He is working as a fully qualified member of staff with no support regarding his training what so ever -no mentor & minimum to no contact from the training provider etc. His manager is expecting more and more work from him of which he is providing however his manager isn't happy that he's being proven wrong and is "bullying" him finding every which way to make his work life difficult to the extreme of him being suspended til further notice- for standing up for himself with regards to his efficiency and his attitude towards his work.
Who can he speak to with regards to this issue as the company has no union for his to join for help and he doesn't know where to go for support??

None 29/12/2017 at 7:36 pm

We have an expirenced sprayer at our work place that constantly with will use highly insulting words towards our level 2 apprentice, I witnessed this myself and had to intervene as could see the lad getting upset.

What would be the correct approch at disserining this employee

AnApprenticeship Editor 19/12/2017 at 10:49 am

I am sorry to hear this. In the first instance your son would have to inform his apprenticeship provider and also talk to his employer directly regarding his actions. If your son is not satisfied with the response, he should make a formal grievance complaint in writing, making sure his apprenticeship provider is copied in, please also

Spence 18/12/2017 at 6:36 pm

Hello. My 16 year old son has recently started an apprenticeship as a gas fitter with a local gas engineer. He also employs two other people, one of whom was his apprentice about 10 years ago. I am becoming increasingly concerned for my son, who regularly comes home upset with stories of what appear to be bullying from his employer. My son enjoys working with the former apprentice and enjoys the work, but from what I can gather is subject to regular verbal and sometimes unwanted physical abuse ("banter") from his boss. To be fair my son does stand up for himself and tells his boss to stop but it goes on regardless. He came home from work today in a terrible state. I don't know what I can do. I want to confront the man but I suspect it will only make the situation worse, or could even result in my sons' dismissal. Your advice would be appreciated.

Bubble gum 11/11/2017 at 5:11 pm

My son is 19 and has been working as an electritions apprentice for a year and started college in September which he thoroughly enjoys.
He is working incredibly long hours, and his boss ( only him in this small company), is rude , totally erratic and swears constantly with very unsavoury language at my son .
My son has asked him not to speak to him this way , but says shouting is the only way things will get done! Said my son can leave but nobody else will treat him as good as his company! What planet is he on! Advice please !

Lil 29/09/2017 at 5:31 am

Hi

My employer is really iratic, she changes her mind then snaps if you can't read her mind to change it. She pays the absolute minimum and whilst laughing told a room full of staff that she barely pays me. She works me extreme hard and refuses days off.

I've kept a log and the college have advised me to leave immediately so I'm gathering the last of the workevidence I need tomorrow morning then leaving. She's going to be really shocked because I kept my head down to complete the course before leaving. I'll have finished the course enough to do the last bits from home but I'm worried if I just walk out they'll try to insist I pay back the fee or press some kind of charge for not given notice.

Is there anything I must do and could suffer from later if I walk out?

Thanks :)

AnApprenticeship Editor 07/09/2017 at 10:03 am

If your son has tried solving this issue informally by talking to his manager directly, but his manager has ignored this, he can complain in writing, You can see a sample letter via the CAB link

Mumsy6 06/09/2017 at 3:35 pm

My 17 year old son is doing an apprenticeship and is constantly being put down and belittled by the deputy manager. This person has known my son for years, as his son was a friend of my sons. This person also takes the mickey out of some of our family members to my son, including comments about disabilities, knowing we have family members with disabilities. This person thinks he is funny and loves an audience. Advice very much appreciated. My son an other staff members have mentioned issues to the manager, but nothing has been done.
Thank you in advance ??

Jo 31/05/2017 at 7:27 pm

Hello my 17yr old daughter is doing childcare on apprenticeship and today she has gone to work and been told she has been replaced. They lied saying they tried to call her but my daughter had no missed calls over the weekend.
While working in childcare one of the staff girls was always rude with a dirty attitude towards my daughter and all the staff noticed this happening to her, and was ask to have a chat in the office about the situation and said she will have it sorted BUT IT NEVER DID.
My daughter had had a few sick data off from work with the flu , sickness bug , and bad headaches and always told them she wasn't coming in, and some days she really didn't want to go in because she wasn't happy or never felt involved with the people she worked with.AND NOW it has put her OFF doing childcare altogether.
IS THIS FAIR.
And today she was told she was being replaced without no warning.

Mousey 05/05/2017 at 9:59 am

My mate bas just had an operation which has meant he couldnt do his apprenticship for 8-10 weeks. Now he has gone back to his apprenticeship and he is not doing the job he was told he would be doing (window fitting) he is being made to do random jobs for his bosses mates ( painting) and jobs on his own property ( again painting) while his boss is not even helping. He is just doing his own thing. Surely this isnt what an apprenticship is? He joined the apprenticship a year ago and everything was fine until he had to go on sick. Surely this is not correct. What should he do? He has tried to get intouch with his manager that set up the apprenticship to as of yet no avail. Surely this is wrong. What can be done about this?

Cat 25/04/2017 at 2:40 pm

My son has been working as an apprentice at a garage since last August, he has a week at college every other month. While he has been at the garage the boss has been declared bankrupt and has made his son the manager of the business. Well the old boss still goes to the garage alot and from day one has always spoke to and shouted at my son regularly, my son comes home alot upset and angry because of this. Well this week my sons new boss is away so the old one is taking his place and all hes doing is shout at him and threaten him with losing his job, my son has phoned me on his dinner break very upset and angry, I managed to talk him in to staying at work instead of coming home. My son has put up with this for 8 months, even the other workers sometimes join in. His new boss knows what his dad is doing and sticks up for my son but as I said earlier he is away this week. I want to go down to the garage to have a word with him myself but my son doesn't want me to as it might make things worse. What can we do?

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