New data shows that over 50% of people and 60% of women have left or considered leaving a job because of bullying behaviour from a manager or colleague.

The nationally representative survey of over 1,000 UK employees found that one in two women have experienced workplace bullying, including receiving unfair criticism or blame, being undermined, offensive jokes, and verbal abuse such as shouting at work.

One in four people have been undermined or had their work undermined, with 24% more women than men saying they experienced this.

Almost a quarter (23%) of people have received unfair criticism or blame and

22% of people have experienced abrupt emails (25% of women compared to 18% of men).

Over one in ten employees report experiencing:

• A joke that offends them (16%)
• Verbal abuse (13%), such as shouting or insulting at work, with 25-54 year-olds being the most common age group to experience this
• Exclusion or isolation (13%), with 37% more women than men feeling isolated at work
• Rumours or false information being spread about them (13%)

Tina Chander, Head of Employment at Wright Hassall, says: “It’s worrying to see that 50% of people have left or considered leaving a role because of bad behaviour, and with more women experiencing these types of behaviours, it’s no wonder more women want to leave a role.

“Many workplaces try and brush off some of these behaviours such as abrupt emails, isolation, or a joke that offends someone, but the reality is that these are bullying behaviours and more needs to be done to change the toxic culture of workplaces so that people are not suffering.”

Of those who had experienced workplace bullying, a staggering 7 in 10 (72%) didn’t report it, and out of those who did report it, the most popular age range was 18 – 34.

Of those who did report workplace bullying, almost half (46%) found it was ignored, dismissed or the situation was made worse. Over half (58%) of men found the situation was made worse or ignored, compared to 41% of women.

Tina says: “What’s sad to see is that men don’t typically raise issues, but when they do, they experience that the situation is ignored or made worse. This worrying finding indicates workplaces need to do more for everyone.”

The survey found that those over 55 report the least workplace bullying behaviour, with 64% of 55-64 year-olds and 85% of 64 years+ stating they haven’t experienced any of these behaviours.

Tina adds: “It’s unlikely that these age ranges have experienced less workplace bullying. What’s more likely is that younger people are now more aware of what workplace bullying actually is.

“Training is part of the solution. But organisations need to do more to cultivate a culture and have set processes that are widely understood if someone is experiencing bullying and/or harassment.”

*Wright Hassall