One in four bullied at work, leading to four million days off
One in four people are bullied at work and the impact on their working lives leads to an extra four million days off sick a year, according to social affairs ministry figures.
Work-related bullying mainly involves being made to look foolish and being excluded, but can include physical abuse, a report drawn up for the ministry shows.
In total, the four million days off generated by bullying cost employers €900m a year, calculations by the TNO research institute and national statistics office CBS show.
On Monday, social affairs minister Lodewijk Asscher is launching a campaign against work-related bullying. Some 95% of the people questioned for the research say bullying is never discussed at work.
Asscher says he wants to break through this taboo. ‘Bullying causes a lot of people grief,’ the minister said.
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