About one in 12 people are bullied at work. It is more likely to happen in education, health, public administration and financial services than in manual occupations.
These are among the conclusions of a survey of workplace bullying by the ESRI in response to a request from the Task Force on the Prevention of Bullying in the Workplace. The results of the survey are a major part of the task force report.
The survey found that bullying was much more prevalent in large firms than in small ones, among the employed rather than the self-employed, and that more women than men reported being bullied at work.
It also found that more people with higher levels of education reported being bullied, but concluded this was probably because they were more likely to articulate their experiences.
The survey is based on 5,252 successfully completed questionnaires, based on 27,653 calls. Some of the questionnaires were completed by telephone to accommodate people with reduced literacy skills.
It found that 10 per cent of women employees had experienced bullying in the workplace during the past six months. Among men the figure was 6.4 per cent.
The forms of bullying most commonly reported were verbal abuse, insults and exclusion, although instances of physical abuse and sexual harassment were also given. The perpetrators were most likely to be a supervisor or manager, although the next-largest category was a colleague.
The vast majority of male victims (82 per cent) reported being bullied by other males, but 55 per cent of female victims were bullied by other females, with 41 per cent bullied by males and 4 per cent by both men and women.
Victims were found very unlikely to have reported the bullying to a human resources department or a union. About half reported it to a supervisor. However, the most common response was to discuss the matter with family or friends.
The effect of the bullying included loss of concentration and confidence at work, and about half of those bullied reported an effect on their life outside work; 54 per cent considered leaving their job; and 11 per cent did leave. A quarter considered seeking a transfer, and about 15 per cent did so, while another 14 per cent considered leaving the workforce altogether.