Workplace bullying is a pervasive problem that often precipitates harassment and discrimination claims and, in more extreme cases, workplace violence. Although there is currently no state that prohibits workplace bullying, it can expose employers to significant legal risk and damage both productivity and employee morale. According to a 2012 survey by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM), 51 percent of organizations reported that there had been incidents of bullying in their workplace.
What Is Workplace Bullying?
Workplace bullying is a form of interpersonal aggression that has implications for job productivity, job satisfaction and how individuals perceive the organizational climate. Specifically, workplace bullying is the repeated mistreatment of one or more people (the targets) by one or more perpetrators that may take the following forms:
