Australia: Bullying still a serious problem

from SafeToWork.com

WORKPRO claims bullying continues to be a serious problem in the workplace, after carrying out its second 2008 Workplace Pulse Quarterly Survey of 2000 employees.

According to results from the survey, 30% of employees said they had been bullied, 24% claimed they had been discriminated against, while 44% had witnessed a colleague being bullied or discriminated against.

The company says employers are failing to realise they are liable for such incidents, even if they were not directly involved or aware of such occurrences.

Companies can be prosecuted for incidents that happen between other staff members. In many cases, the employers are charged with not providing employees with adequate occupational health and safety or equal employment opportunity information and training.