Workplace Bullying in Ireland amongst the highest in Europe
Newly published research places Ireland as the 7th worst EU country for workplace bullying. The research, conducted by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions, also found that Ireland rated highly for cases of physical violence and sexual harassment.
According to the research approximately 6% of European workers have been victims of some form of bullying, whether it is verbal, psychological, physical, or sexual harassment over the last 12 months.
Speaking in response to the finding SIPTU’s Tom O’Driscoll has commented that SIPTU, at any given time could have “over one hundred (bullying cases)”. He said, “bullying mainly comes from managers or those in positions of power but can be colleague on colleague.”
Workplace bullying can have an extremely disruptive effect not only on an individual’s performance at work but also on their home-life and their psychological wellbeing.
Employers need to be vigilant in this area, and take proactive steps to remove bullying from their workplaces. This will include:
- Having robust bullying and harassment policies and procedures in place
- Taking all complaints of bullying or harassment seriously, taking appropriate action
- Acting immediately if bullying or harassment is suspected in the workplace – not procrastinating
- Training all managers fully on managing employees
Bright Contracts - Employment Contracts and Handbooks
