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More than one in four workers have felt bullied in workplace

Bullying: One in four say they have been a victim at work

More than one on four workers say they have felt bullied in the workplace, according to a new study from CareerBuilderTwenty-seven percent of workers reported they have felt bullied in the workplace with the majority neither confronting nor reporting the bully. Comparing genders and age groups, the segments that were more likely than others to report feeling bullied were women, workers age 55 or older, and workers age 24 or younger. The study was conducted from February 21 to March 10, 2011 and included more than 5,600 full-time workers nationwide.Women reported a higher incidence of being treated unfairly at the office. One-third (34 percent) of women said they have felt bullied in the workplace compared to 22 percent of men.Looking at age, 29 percent of workers age 55 or older and 29 percent of workers age 24 or younger reported they had been bullied on the job, the highest among age groups. Workers age 35 to 44 were the least likely to report feeling bullied at 25 percent. The most common culprit is typically the boss, according to the survey. Fourteen percent of workers felt bullied by their immediate supervisor while 11 percent felt bullied by a co-worker. Seven percent said the bully was not their boss, but someone else higher up in the organisation while another 7 percent said the bully was their customer.l My comments were dismissed or not acknowledged 43 percentl I was falsely accused of mistakes I didn’t make 40 percentl I was harshly criticized 38 percentl I was forced into doing work that really wasn’t my job 38 percentl Different standards and policies were used for me than other workers 37 percentl I was given mean looks 31 percentl Others gossiped about me 27 percentl My boss yelled at me in front of other co-workers 24 percentl Belittling comments were made about my work during meetings 23 percentl Someone else stole credit for my work 21 percent“Bullying is a serious offence that can disrupt the work environment, impact morale and lower productivity,” said Rosemary Haefner, vice-president of human resources.“If you are feeling bullied, keep track of what was said or done and who was present. The more specifics you can provide, the stronger the case you can make for yourself when confronting the bully head on or reporting the bully to a company authority.”Although bullies can be intimidating, nearly half of workers (47 percent) said they confronted the bully about his/her actions. Of these workers, 43 percent said the bullying stopped, 13 percent reported the bullying became worse while 44 percent said the bullying stayed the same.Nearly three in ten workers (28 percent) took their concerns to a higher authority and reported the bully to their Human Resources department. While 38 percent of these workers stated that measures were taken to investigate and resolve the situation, the majority of workers (62 percent) said no action was taken. Of those who didn’t report the bully, one-in-five (21 percent) said it was because they feared the bullying would escalate.This survey was conducted online within the US by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder among 5,671 US full-time, private-sector workers, ages 18 and over, between February 21 and March 10, 2011.