HR Industry News

Cyber-bullying on the increase

— 27 July 2007 —

A fifth of UK employees claim to have been bullied by e-mail at work, according to a recently published survey.

The research, carried out by the trade union Unite in conjunction with the government, highlights the increase in “cyber-bullying”, especially by e-mail and by text message.

6% claim to have been bullied by SMS, while 13% say that the increasing usage of Blackberries has made bullying more of a problem in the workplace.

The survey also highlighted the problem that employees are seemingly unaware of to whom they should turn if they are being bullied. 50% said that they would go to senior management, while 25% said that they would consult either their HR department or their union. 6% said they would take direct revenge.

“More employers are recognising that bullying and harassment is just not acceptable and are developing ‘acceptable behaviour’ or ‘dignity at work’ policies to back more standard grievance procedures. The really advanced employers are ensuring that Employee Assistance Programme and whistle blowing help-lines are set up to mitigate negative responses and to provide advice on resolution strategies,” says Ceridian's Paul Avis.

Cyber-bullying is apparently most prevalent in sales, media and marketing departments.

Mandy Telford, the Dignity at Work coordinator at Unite said, “Bullying in the workplace can destroy people's lives."

"It also has a direct impact on an organisation's bottom line, and we hope that making the financial impact clear will help management and HR build a business case for tackling the issue."

With some high profile cases with large settlement amounts, the legal case precedents are building. Quite simply, employers would be foolish to assume that employer liability insurers can foot this bill forever without increasing their organisational premiums dramatically.Paul Avis, Corporate Development Manager, Ceridian

Del.icio.us Digg Newsvine Reddit Technorati Google