New numbers from Luxembourg's Chambre des Salaries (CSL) show that bullying is still an issue in the workplace in Luxembourg; the figures for those bullied at work rose slightly from 2013 and 2014 only to fall somewhat in 2015.
In order to gather accurate information, the CSL undertook a survey in which employees were asked to answer questions by ticking one of five boxes: Never, Rarely, Sometimes, Often and (almost) Always. Any case were the boxed ticked with either Often or (almost) Always was considered one of harassment.
A closer look at the data from 2013 to 2015 shows the most frequent form of bullying at 6.9% to 8.2% was that of “Missions dénuées de sens” (being sent on meaningless missions). 4.9% to 7.6% complained of criticism at work, and 4.1% to 5.7% complained of being ignored. Fewest were the cases of ridicule by colleagues in front of others, only 0.8% to 1.7%.
Also evident was that those most affected by the bullying were employees between the ages of 16 and 24, with those aged 55 and above were least concerned by the practice. The report also noted that there is a small difference between the different categories examined (gender, full time/part time and care status). The CSL noted that those who have been in the workplace for 20 years or more are not as much targeted by bullying.
A workplace with only one to four employees will also suffer less from the phenomenon, whereas in a workplace that reduces the workforce, bullying is more frequent. Managers and unskilled workers are less likely to be bullied than those working in a particular field. Businesses that regularly draw awareness to health issues are less likely to be plagued by bullying than those that rarely or never do.
The statistics of the three year national survey show that bullying is more common amongst French and Luxembourgish nationalities, where those with German nationalities are consistently less victimised.
Several studies (Agervold, 2009; Agervold & Mikkelsen, 2004; Hauge, Skogstad & Einarsen, 2007) show that bullying occurs primarily in workplaces were the environment is unfavourable to employees. Bullying can lead to several severe conditions for the victim such as increase of stress, sleeping problems, depression and more.
Image by: CSL
