Workplace harassment and bullying can affect employees’ productivity, organizations’ financial performance, and brand strength.
You should provide comfortable environments of psychological safety to your employees. They should be able to relax and collaborate with their colleagues without fear or emotional upset.
In this article, you’ll find out some workplace violence, bullying, and harassment statistics – the numbers are alarming. Let’s access the stats:
Workplace violence, bullying, and harassment Statistics 2022
In recent years, workplace bullying and harassment statistics show some terrifying numbers. Here are some statistics that will shock you:
Workplace bullying statistics
1. Monster.com survey found that nearly 94% of employees said they had been bullied in the workplace. (Source)
2. Around 55% of Indian employees are bullied at work, which can lead to grave mental health and other issues. (Source)
3. 79% of working professionals have indirectly experienced or witnessed bullying at work. (Source)
4. 61 percent of Americans are aware of abusive conduct in the workplace, and 60.4 million are affected. (Source)
Workplace harassment statistics
5. In the past five years, the EEOC has received 82,847 workplace discrimination complaints on average each year. (Source)
6. 45% of employees have witnessed the workplace harassment of a co-worker. (Source)
7. 35% of workers feel they have been harassed at work. (Source)
Statistics by harassment types
8. 23% of women, who have experienced sexual harassment, said things have gotten worse since the pandemic started. (Source)
9. 45% of women are experiencing harassment remotely (e.g., email, texts, social media, video calls). (Source)
10. 35% of workplace violence incidents involve head injuries. (Source)
11. When bullying is reported, American employers still react negatively, 60%. (Source)
12. 1 in 8 American workers have experienced direct verbal abuse or threats. (Source)
Workplace violence statistics
13. 7% of fatal assaults involved acts of hitting, kicking, beating, and shoving. (Source)
14. Retail fatalities & violent incidents up to 40% in the U.S. in 2020. (Source)
15. 55% of human resources professionals do not know if their organization has a workplace violence prevention program. (Source)
Workplace violence cost statistics
16. A European Union’s member states survey found that 28% of employees reported stress-related illness or health problems. (Source)
17. Workplace violence results in hundreds of billions of dollars in lost revenue for American businesses every year. (Source)
Workplace violence financial data
18. For every dollar a company invests in safety, they save somewhere between $3 to $5. (Source)
19. A single work-related death costs $1.22 million. (Source)
20. Domestic violence issues that are brought to the workplace cost nearly $727 million in lost productivity. (Source)
Workplace shootings statistics
21. 22,088 law enforcement officers have been assaulted by firearms over the last decade. (Source)
22. The second-deadliest workplace shooting in the United States took place in Edmond, Oklahoma, in 1986 at a United States post office. (Source)
23. Over the past ten years, the number of mass shootings was 2.4 times greater than the previous decade — from 1998 to 2007. (Source)
Workplace violence examples, injuries, and fatalities
24. Tipped workers were sexually harassed significantly more frequently, in every way measured, than their non-tipped counterparts. (Source)
25. Around one in six people (16 percent) reported a negative effect on their mental health. (Source)
26. 43.1% of workplace murders happen during robberies. (Source)
27. In 2020, a record 70% of violent retail fatalities occurred during the commission of a crime. (Source)
Stats on how violence and harassment affect employers and business
28. 51% of companies have implemented new policies related to workplace harassment in the past 12 months. (Source)
29. 57% of employees left their job due to a bad manager. (Source)
30. Workplace harassment is estimated to impose $2.62 billion in lost productivity, which represents the loss of gross domestic product imposed by harassment. (Source)
31. One in six employees who experienced harassment took sick or annual leave following their harassment. (Source)
Workplace violence and harassment statistics by Industry
32. Overall, 71% of women restaurant workers had been sexually harassed at least once during their time in the restaurant industry. (Source)
33. In the media industry, a full 41% of women and 22% of men report harassment. (Source)
34. 60% of nursing staff said they had experienced sexual harassment at work, while 39% had witnessed a colleague being harassed. (Source)
35. 15% of female educators and 6% of male educators experienced harassment or assault. (Source)
36. Taxi drivers are 20 times more likely to be murdered while working than other professions. (Source)
Gender, Race, and Geography in workplace harassment statistics
37. More than 54% of women report experiencing some level of sexual harassment at work. (Source)
38. Around seven out of ten LGBT workers (68%) experienced at least one type of sexual harassment at work. (Source)
39. One in eight LGBT women (12 percent) reported being seriously sexually assaulted or raped at work. (Source)
40. 307,000 adults experience violence at work in England and Wales. (Source)
General bullying, harassment & violence statistics
41. 78% of accused harassers are men. (Source)
42. 74% of adults believe their companies take sexual harassment seriously. (Source)
43. 36% of companies do not offer their employees anti-harassment training. (Source)
44. Eighty-five percent (85%) of employees know how and where to report issues, but many lack confidence their issues will be addressed fairly and are afraid of retaliation. (Source)
45. It is estimated that 25 percent of workplace violence goes unreported. (Source)
FAQ’s
Bullying was acknowledged as an act of workplace violence by the U.S. Office of Personnel Management in 1998.
It varies according to workplace policies. Workplace violence that results in a fatality must be reported within 8 hours, and inpatient hospitalizations within 24 hours.
Here are some basic types of workplace violence:
– Criminal intentions
– Client on worker violence (majorly happen in the healthcare industry)
– Boss to employee/worker-on-worker
– Personal or domestic violence
There are no solid reasons on why workplace harassment is increasing, but some suggest longer working hours and the rise of responsibilities to be among the causes.
Here are some of the signs to look out for:
– They take leaves from work more often
– They seem dissatisfied, disengaged, and unmotivated
– They’re delivering poor performance
– They avoid attending office social events
– You hear others gossiping about them
Here are some steps a manager can take:
– Address the issue quickly, fairly, and professionally
– Take bullying claims seriously and do a proper investigation procedure
– Have a proper anti-bullying policy in place
Those statistics on workplace bullying and violence are absolutely alarming. Familiarizing yourself with the issue is the first step. The next is doing something about it.
Helpful Resources:
35 Workplace Stress Statistics You Need to Know [2022]
25 Key Employee Retention Statistics For 2022 [Updated]
50 Employee Recognition Statistics You Need to Know In 2022
10 Best Ways and Ideas for Building Great Work Relationships
