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. 61.3% of bullying is same-gender bullying (Source)
2. 48.6 million working Americans experienced workplace bullying in 2021. (Source)
3. in January 2021, 30 percent of Americans have suffered abusive conduct at work (Source)
4. Bullying during remote work happens most in virtual meetings, not email (Source)
Workplace harassment statistics
5. Discrimination cases increased substantially in 2024, with the EEOC receiving over 500,000 calls and 81,055 new charges, yet 45% of workers are unaware of their company’s anti-discrimination policies. (Source)
6. The most common forms of workplace discrimination reported were retaliation (51.6% of all cases), racial discrimination (28.6%), and age discrimination (15.6%), notably impacting minority groups and the LGBTQ+ community. (Source)
7. 58% of Asian Americans report significant experiences of racial discrimination. (Source)
Statistics by harassment types
8. The EEOC’s 2022 report shows findings from a total of 98,411 claims of workplace harassment. Of those claims, 27,291 were specifically sexual harassment. (Source)
9. An average of 7,016 claims specifically cited an element of sexual harassment, making up almost 58 percent of the average rate of sex-based charges. (Source)
10. 47% of LGBTQ employees reporting discrimination at work due to their sexual orientation. (Source)
11. 28 percent of men and 36 percent of women who reported experiencing sexual harassment stated it took place in a work environment. (Source)
12. Nearly 1 in 2 women and roughly 3 in 10 men report ever experiencing harassment or sexual assault in the workplace (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. $121 billion annual losses are attributed to workplace assaults (Source)
20. Domestic violence issues that are brought to the workplace cost nearly $727 million in lost productivity. (Source)
Workplace shootings statistics
21. Almost one in four have witnessed workplace violence happening to another employee in the last five years, and 12% have been the target of workplace violence themselves. (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. The US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 2.6 million nonfatal workplace injuries and illnesses in private industry workplaces in 2021 (Source)
25. In 2021-22, assaults resulted in 57,610 injuries. (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. 40% employees don’t feel confident that there will be a fair and thorough investigation by their organization in case they file a complaint. (Source)
29. 57% of employees left their job due to a bad manager. (Source)
30. 31% of employees said they would likely refer their peers to HR. This percentage rises with positive HR/ER experiences and drops with negative ones. (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. Up to 62% of healthcare workers have experienced some form of workplace violence, with verbal abuse being the most common (58%), followed by threats (33%) and sexual harassment (12%) (Source)
33. In the media industry, a full 41% of women and 22% of men report harassment. (Source)
34. Employees in social services also face high rates of workplace violence. OSHA has developed specific guidelines and a regulatory agenda to address violence prevention in this industry (Source).
35. 15% of female educators and 6% of male educators experienced harassment or assault. (Source)
36. In 2020, there were 37,060 nonfatal injuries resulting from intentional acts of violence by another person (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. Workers in accommodation and food services account for 14% of harassment charges. This number increases in academia, with 50% of female faculty and staff and between 20% and 50% of female students encountering sexual harassment. (Source)
39. Around 70–74% of workplace assaults happen to social workers. (Source)
40. 307,000 adults experience violence at work in England and Wales. (Source)
General bullying, harassment & violence statistics
41. Approximately 1.5 million workplace assaults occur every year. (Source)
42. 74% of adults believe their companies take sexual harassment seriously. (Source)
43.
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.
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
