One-quarter decide to quit jobs
Forty-five per cent of Canadian workers said they have felt bullied at work, according to a survey released by CareerBuilder.ca.
One-third of these workers suffered health-related problems as a result of bullying while 26 per cent decided to quit their jobs to escape the situation, found the survey of 552 workers.
But nearly one-half of workers don't confront their bullies and the majority of incidents go unreported.
Of workers who felt bullied, most pointed to incidents with their co-workers (24 per cent) or boss (23 per cent), while 17 per cent have been picked on by customers and 17 per cent by someone higher up in the company other than their boss.
More than one-half (55 per cent) of those bullied said they were bullied by someone older than they were, while 26 per cent said the bully was younger.
The most common way workers reported being bullied:
•Judged by different standards, policies (50 per cent)
•Ignored (49 per cent)
•Falsely accused o fmistakes (47 per cent)
•Constantly criticized (36 per cent)
•Experienced belittling comments during meetings (30 per cent)
•Work was negatively impacted by someone who didn't perform (30 per cent)
•Gossiped about (29 per cent)
•Someone stole credit for my work (25 per cent)
•Yelled at by boss in front of co-workers (24 per cent)
•Exclused from projects, meetings (22 per cent)
•Picked on for personal attributes (20 per cent)
"How workers define bullying can vary considerably but it is often tied to patterns of unfair treatment," said Rosemary Haefner, vice-president of human resources at CareerBuilder. "Bullying can have a significant impact on both individual and company performance. It's important to cite specific incidents when addressing the situation with the bully or a company authority and keep focused on finding a resolution."
More than one-half (54 per cent) of victims reported confronting the bully themselves, while 46 per cent did not. Of those who confronted the bully, 43 per cent said the bullying stopped while 14 per cent said it got worse, and 44 per cent said the bullying didn't change at all.
One-third of workers who felt bullied reported it to their HR department, found CareerBuilder.
