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Bullying and sexual harassment rife in the workplace
Independent, The (London), Feb 15, 2000 by Barrie Clement
BULLYING IS widespread in the workplace with employees being shouted at, intimidated or even sexually harassed, according to the biggest survey into the issue yet conducted in Britain.
Backed by both unions and employers, the research found that nearly half of the employees questioned had witnessed bullying at work and one in 10 had been bullied within the past six months. One in four said he or she had been a victim in the past five years.
Professor Cary Cooper, co-author of the report, also found that people who see intimidatory behaviour can often find it "profoundly disturbing" to the extent that it affects their mental well-being. Workers said they lost sleep and felt "totally insecure" after being bullied.
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Professor Cooper, of the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology, estimated that some 18 million working days a year were lost because of the stress caused by harassment.
The survey, sponsored by the Trades Union Congress and the employers' organisation, the CBI, found that bullying was most common in the prison service and the post and telecommunications sector where some 16 per cent of respondents had been bullied within the previous six months, while 15.5 per cent in teaching and 14 per cent in the performing arts had been bullied. One in 10 senior managers - who were the most common perpetrators - said he or she had been bullied.
John Monks, the general secretary of the TUC, said the figures showed that bullying was rife at work - and that no workplace was immune. "The study suggests that bullying is often down to bad management style," he said.
Professor Cooper urged employers to train managers to be aware of the negative effects of bullying. "The findings show that with better management training and awareness, bullying is avoidable."
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