Office bullying exists across all levels of workplaces: study

Chicago – More than 1 out of 4 full-time workers have felt bullied by a co-worker in the office, according to a recent Harris Poll study for CareerBuilder.

The study, which included a survey of 3,372 workers in a variety of industries, found that office bullying existed across races, genders, jobs and educational backgrounds. Employees who reported higher rates of bullying included women, minorities and workers who earned less than $50,000 a year.

Examples of bullying included workers being:

• Falsely accused of mistakes
• Made the subject of gossip
• Yelled at by a boss in front of co-workers
• Picked on for personal attributes such as race, gender and appearance

Most bullying involved one person, respondents said, but 19 percent of those bullied said the incidents happened in a group setting.

CareerBuilder offered the following tips for dealing with an office bully:

• Keep detailed records of all bullying incidents.
• Consider talking to the bully, providing specific examples of unfair treatment.
• Focus discussions with a bully or supervisor on how a situation could improve.