Abuse of Authority in the Workplace

Louise Petty

March 14, 2025

5 min read

The abuse of authority in the workplace has a significant negative impact on employees and organisational culture. When a senior member of staff misuses their position of power for personal gain, both workers and businesses suffer. In this article, we’ll look at how to recognise abuse of power in the workplace, provide some real-life examples of misuse of power and explain how you can prevent the abuse of authority in the workplace.

abuse of authority from man to woman in the workplace

What is Misuse of Power in the Workplace?

Misuse of power in the workplace – also known as abuse of authority – is when a member of senior staff uses their position and status inappropriately against a subordinate employee. It often involves a manager or boss using their authority to manipulate, control, intimidate, influence or pressurise a more junior member of the team.

Misuse of power creates harmful, unpleasant and toxic work environments where morale and productivity are low and stress is high. Once an authoritative figure realises they’ve got someone under their influence or control, their abuse of power can be maintained for years and may only end when the employee quits the business.

Abuse of authority in the workplace can present itself in many forms, though it’s often psychological. Misuse of power might involve:

Manipulation.
Coercion and control.
Intimidation.
Discrimination.
Bullying and cyberbullying.
Mobbing.
Exploitation.
Blackmail.
Slander.
Pressuring or influencing.
Physical violence.
Sexual harassment.
Breaching employee or human rights.

This list is not exhaustive and there are many other actions, both physical and psychological, that can be classed as abuse if they are causing harm or distress to the victim.

Want to Learn More?

The Worker Protection Act requires all employers to take reasonable steps to protect their staff members from sexual harassment in the workplace. Our online Sexual Harassment Training for Managers and Supervisors and Sexual Harassment Training for Employees courses will help you and your workers understand what actions you should be taking to act in accordance with the law.

Abuse of Power in the Workplace Examples

Abuse of power in the workplace can take many forms and may not be obvious to anyone other than the victim. Those who misuse power are often skilled at hiding their behaviour, making it seem like a normal part of business life or causing the employee to feel too ashamed, afraid or unsafe to speak up about it.

Consider the real-life examples of abuse of power in the workplace below:

Manipulation – A line manager doesn’t want one of their employees to apply for an upcoming promotion because he doesn’t get on with them and wants them to hand in their notice. As a result, the line manager begins to deliberately withhold information from the employee and intentionally avoids talking about career progression, making no reference to the promotion the employee is eligible for. Instead, the line manager tells the employee that they’re not meeting targets and might be in trouble, and influences them to start looking for a new role elsewhere. The line manager is misusing their authority to manipulate, influence and gaslight the employee so that they leave the company.

Discrimination – The female CEO of a company believes that women make the best managers and leaders, so does all she can to ensure more women are promoted and coached to fill these positions. The CEO uses her position of power to refuse employment, promotion and training to male staff members in order to fulfil her goal. As a result, she is favouring female employees over others, discriminating based on gender and misusing her position to make unfounded, discriminatory decisions.

Embarrassment – A team leader humiliates a member of their team in front of the group by sharing an embarrassing story from last year’s Christmas party in order to make the rest of the team laugh. The team member is mocked for how they behaved at the party and the leader does an impression of them. If the team leader can get everyone in the group to laugh – at the employee’s expense – then the leader will gain approval from the group as being ‘fun’ and ‘full of banter.’ They are misusing their position of power to gain more authority.

Sexual harassment – A male manager likes to employ female workers on his team and will frequently touch their arms or backs when passing by their desks. He also likes to joke about their partners and sex lives at home, often asking questions to learn more about their sexual preferences and then brushing it off as ‘banter’ if an employee ever gets embarrassed. The manager is abusing his authority to harass his female team members, regularly showing unwanted sexual behaviour towards them and attempting to cover it up as a joke, knowing that they won’t challenge him because he’s their boss.

Blackmail – A team supervisor has installed some software on an employee’s computer to monitor their emails and messages, without telling the employee. As a result, the supervisor has discovered some private defamatory comments the employee has been making about the company’s leader. The supervisor misuses their position of authority to make the employee do extra work, out of hours and unpaid, threatening to reveal their defamatory comments to the business if they don’t.

Intimidation – A line manager regularly shouts at their team members, yelling at them to be on time and get back to work, using bad language and an aggressive tone to get their team to stay obedient. If an employee makes a mistake, the line manager reminds them that they can easily be replaced by someone else. The line manager is misusing their position of power to intimidate their employees, cause fear and force them into submission.

Harmful Effects of Abuse of Authority in the Workplace

The abuse of authority has severe, negative effects on everyone in the workplace. Not only does it harm the victim’s wellbeing, but it also negatively affects team morale, workplace productivity and company culture. These harmful effects are long-lasting and can be highly damaging to businesses. There are no benefits to the misuse of power.

effects of abuse of authority at work, man stressed in the workplace

For victims, harmful effects of abuse of authority in the workplace include:

Reduced productivity and job performance.
Increased absenteeism.
A hostile working environment.
Reduced mental wellbeing.
Reduced physical wellbeing, including more illness and difficulty sleeping.
Constant anxiety.
High levels of workplace stress.
Isolation and feelings of helplessness.
Disconnect from the workplace and those around them.
Feeling unsafe at work.

For organisations, harmful effects of abuse of authority in the workplace include:

High employee turnover.
A lack of trust in management.
A negative company culture.
Low team morale and low productivity.
Loss of time and money spent on on- and off-boarding employees.
Harassment claims from employees.
Risk of legal action against the business from victims.

How to Prevent Abuse of Power

For those who are victims of abuse of authority in the workplace, it can be easier to hand in their notice than speak up and resolve the problem. Employees may rather quit their job than speak up about what they’re experiencing, especially if they feel that their organisation won’t listen to them or won’t do anything about it.

Preventing the misuse of power in the workplace is important for all types of businesses and it should never be assumed that it doesn’t happen where you work. Abusers are skilled at keeping their behaviour hidden, even more so if they know their employer isn’t doing anything to prevent or address it.

To prevent abuse of power, your business should:

Avoid hierarchical structures where people in positions of power are seen as untouchable, irreplaceable and authoritarian.
Promote team wellbeing, an inclusive company culture and a supportive workplace.
Never ignore abusive behaviours of any kind.
Address reports of abuse of power immediately with informal discussions or formal disciplinary procedures.
Ensure support systems are in place at all levels of the organisation.
Create a robust staff code of conduct, anti-bullying policy, sexual harassment policy and EDI policy.
Educate everyone in the business about the abuse of power, providing examples of what it is and explaining how they should report it.
Provide leadership training to leaders about what makes a good manager, how to be respectful and how to adapt their leadership style for different employees.
Make sure the procedure for raising a grievance is clear and simple to follow.
Consider implementing an anonymous reporting system for people who want to speak out but who are afraid to do so.
Encourage witnesses of abuse to come forward as well as victims.
Create opportunities for employees to share their thoughts on the company culture, such as through staff surveys or discussion groups.
Ensure HR personnel and people managers are competent, qualified and alert to what’s happening in their teams.

Employee reporting abuse of authority in the workplace

Speaking up about the abuse of power at work can be challenging for victims, as they often feel embarrassed or afraid to challenge the person who’s misusing their position of power. Often, the employee will worry that their job is at risk if they report their supervisor or line manager for bad behaviour, and that they may be fired for speaking out.

However, abuse is never acceptable, in any form, so it’s vital that victims of abuse of power take steps to speak up and report what’s happening to them.

To report abuse of power in the workplace, it’s advised that you follow your organisation’s grievance procedure. This should contain clear information on who to speak to in order to raise a complaint, how the report will be handled and what will happen during the grievance hearing. You can raise a formal grievance by speaking to a member of your HR team.

If you feel uncomfortable talking to someone within your workplace about the abuse of power, then trade unions, independent legal practitioners and HR services such as the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Acas), can also provide advice and support on what to do next.

It’s a good idea to keep documented evidence of the misuse of power where possible, as this can be used as the basis for resolving the problem, raising a formal grievance or taking legal action if necessary. For victims of misuse of power, this can be as simple as keeping a diary of your concerns and noting down any examples as and when they occur, including a description of the behaviour and the date it happened.

Once a grievance has been raised, your employer then has a responsibility to work to resolve the issue, whether that’s through an informal discussion, conflict resolution meeting or disciplinary procedures.

The misuse of power in the workplace occurs when senior members of staff exploit their authority to manipulate, intimidate or control employees, creating a toxic working environment that harms both employees and businesses. Abuse of authority can take various forms and leads to reduced productivity, high employee turnover and legal risks for organisations. To prevent the abuse of power in the workplace, companies should establish clear policies, encourage reporting and promote a supportive workplace culture where misconduct is addressed quickly.

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Human Resources