Dynamic Business

A new survey has found that bullying is rife in Australian workplaces, with half of the respondents saying they had witnessed the behaviour, while 25 percent had experienced bullying themselves.

The Drake International survey of more than 800 employees found that isolation, verbal insults and sarcasm were the most common forms of bullying in the workplace, with many employees subject to such behaviours from their managers or supervisors.

The survey found that bullying from managers or supervisors represented 50 percent of all cases, while 25 percent came from fellow employees. Gender was no barrier to bullying, with both sexes equally targeted by workplace bullies.

The results are disturbing and disappointing says Drake International’s national client services manager Judy Harper.

‘Bullying is an identifiable psychological hazard in the workplace and therefore this is not just a conduct issue,” she said.

“Organisations need to do more, as a minimum they have a statutory duty of care to manage and control this inappropriate and damaging behaviour.”

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