Bullying rife at work, major study shows

Over one in 10 workers have been bullied at work within the last six months and an estimated 18 million working days are lost every year

because of bullying, according to the biggest ever British study of workplace bullying.

The survey of 5,300 employees from across the British workforce was carried out by the University of Manchester Institute of Science and

Technology, and was supported by the TUC and the CBI.

Although the survey showed that all levels of employees are affected, three-quarters of those doing the bullying are managers. Bullying was

found to be most common in the prison service, post and telecommunications, teaching and performing arts.

Dave Joyce, who is chair of the Communication Workers Union's health, safety and environment committee, said: "This survey has produced direct

independent evidence that some serious problems exist in the Post Office and British Telecom where our members work in a 'pressure cooker'

environment."

He added: "Our union has seen instances of industrial action in the Post Office and more recently a national strike in BT's call centres as a

result of the way people are being treated at work."